Gone Away Like JFK (Redux)
by LegitElizabethWWEFan
Summary: President Marth has been assassinated in broad daylight. It's now up to the Smash Bureau of Investigation to find the assassin- and fast. But doing so won't be easy, especially when everything isn't what it seems. After all, a murder investigation is never as cut and dry as some expect. Modern AU and minor real-life references, please review!
1. Prologue

**Hello, everyone! So after months of creating character roles and outlining, I'm finally ready to begin the redux of _Gone Away Like JFK_! The reason I'm doing this is because I'm rather unhappy with how the original fanfic is, and I wanted to give it a massive overhaul. I'll keep the original up in case anyone wants to read it, but this version of that fanfic will be longer, and the main plot will differ quite a bit from the original. I've also added subplots and changed some characters.**

 **Also, this fanfic is in a modern-ish AU. What that means is that it's modern, but all mythical creatures (Pokémon, dragons, etc.) knowingly exist with humans. Different races exist among each other in a modern-day setting. Think of it like _True Blood_ , or _Once Upon a Time_ in that sense alone. If that or other things don't make sense, please let me know so I can try to explain myself further.**

 **This is the prologue, and the first chapter will be up next week. New chapters will be uploaded every Wednesday, so remember that for the future!**

 **I own nothing related to Nintendo.**

 **Anyways, please read & enjoy! :D**

* * *

President Marth adjusted the sleeves of his blue dress shirt while rehearsing his speech inside his head. Today was the day he would deliver a vital speech to the people of Smashville on climate change in the city, and what he and his administration had planned to combat it. It was a speech that needed to take place, so he had to be ready. He had to be prepared to say all the right things that the people needed to here. He also had to be prepared for any questions that the reporters had for him.

Marth smoothed his shirt of any wrinkles before examining his appearance in the bathroom mirror. He looked professional, but not stuffy. He looked like someone who could blend right into Smashville. In other words, he looked normal. The words he had planned for later today were important, but image was just as important. He had to look like one of his people, or else they might not feel a connection to their President. If that happened, then his speech would be all for nothing.

 _Relax_ , he thought, _you can do this. It's just another speech. You do these a lot._

With a small nod, Marth exited his en suite for the master bedroom. He put on a pair of black dress shoes just as a familiar face exited another connecting room. He looked up, only to have his breath hitch in his throat- though only for a moment.

"Caeda…"

His wife, First Lady Caeda, stood in front of her dresser. She put on a pair of pearl earrings, followed by a small pearl necklace. They made her look lovelier than she already did. When paired with the red shift dress, black blazer, and black pumps she also had on, it showed that she meant business today.

It took a few minutes for Caeda to realize that a pair of eyes stared at her in awe. She slowly looked towards Marth.

"Is something wrong?"

"No, not at all. You…you look beautiful."

Caeda stifled an amused giggle. "Thank you, dear. You look quite dashing."

For a moment, no one spoke. They stood in silence, though it wasn't an awkward silence. It seemed as natural as breathing. Each person stared at the other, unsure of what to say or do next.

It was Marth who finally spoke up.

"Ready to go?"

"I am. Are you?"

Caeda nodded. "Indeed."

"Then let's go."

Marth led Caeda out of the master bedroom, and the two walked to the main room. Security guards and the Smash Secret Intelligence Service- as known as the SSIS- mingled about, waiting for the President and First Lady to show up.

"Mr. President, First Lady," Captain Falcon greeted curtly. "We're ready to head out. Your security guards will stay to keep watch over the premises. The SSIS- myself included- will accompany you to today's speech."

"Thank you, Captain," Marth replied. "We should get going."

"I agree," Caeda piped up.

Captain Falcon nodded. "Of course. Let's go."

Led by the SSIS, Marth and Caeda made their way outside to their vehicles. It was decided that the driver- known as Little Mac- would take the couple to their destination, while Captain Falcon sat in the passenger seat. The other two SSIS agents- Agent Cloud and Agent Link- would follow close behind.

"It's such a nice day," Marth remarked. "Yesterday's rain is gone in favour of today's sunshine. Let's go in the convertible."

He pointed to a sleek black convertible that sat away from the other vehicles. It was the odd one out when compared to the bulletproof SUVs that filled the parking lot.

"Mr. President, are you sure?" Cloud asked.

"I'm sure. I'm not worried of anything bad happening. I'll be fine. What about you, Caeda?"

"I'm fine with that," she said.

Little Mac escorted Marth, Caeda, and Captain Falcon to the awaiting convertible. Cloud and Link elected to take one of the SUVs.

In a couple minutes, everyone was on their way to Smashville Park, where Marth would have his speech. Many citizens flocked to the streets when they saw or heard that the President was out in public. They crowded onto sidewalks to cheer and wave as a sign of support.

"There's a lot of people outside," Caeda said.

Marth shrugged it off. "Let them have their fun. This is as close as some of them will come to seeing me in person."

Caeda grinned. He wasn't wrong- most of Smashville had never seen the President in such a relaxed manner before. Some chased their car, though they stayed on the sidewalk when Captain Falcon gave them a hardened glare.

The powerful couple kissed, though only for a moment. The crowd of people cheered louder than before, while the two blushed and laughed at what they had just done.

"You don't kiss me in public like that," Caeda remarked. "What's gotten into you?"

"Can't I be a little romantic with my wife?"

"Well, yeah, but…okay, fine. You can be a strange man, but…I love you."

Marth smiled. "And I love you."

They shared another kiss before Marth focused back on the growing crowd of people. He smiled and waved to convey his care for his people. Next to his wife, they were the most important aspect of his life. If he didn't have them, he wouldn't know what to do with himself.

 _BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!_

Cheers turned into screams as the people ducked for their own safety. Caeda had squeezed her eyes shut upon hearing the first shot, and had not seen who had been hit as a result. She soon opened them to find Marth slumped back in the car, bleeding from his chest and head.

"MARTH!"

Little Mac ripped his suit jacket and dress shirt off for Captain Falcon to use as a way to stop the bleeding. Caeda tried to help him, but her emotions had her unable to comprehend everything that had just taken place.

 _My husband was just shot. He's not speaking. His eyes are shut. Why is that? WHY?!_

"STEP ON IT!" she cried.

She didn't have to say so in the first place; Little Mac was already racing to the local hospital. Link and Cloud passed them to beat them there. Caeda presumed they wanted to alert the doctors and nurses what had happened so that they could start treating him immediately.

Time seemed to move impossibly slow as Little Mac continued to drive to the hospital. Caeda was about to scream at him to go faster, but he pulled up to the ambulance parking lot just before the words could leave her mouth.

Two nurses threw Marth on a gurney before wheeling him in the building. Link and Cloud were nowhere to be found, leading Captain Falcon to believe that they were already inside. He ushered Caeda and Little Mac in the hospital to avoid the press from hounding them.

"This can't be!" a voice cried. "This can't actually be the President!"

The trio soon came upon the sight of a horrified Dr. Mario trying to reason with Link and Cloud. He saw Caeda's tears and became pale in an instant.

"Oh my… This is the real thing."

He raced into the operating room to aid his nurses in saving the President's life. The two agents met up with Captain Falcon to compare notes.

"Did you see the shooter?" Link asked.

Captain Falcon shook his head. "I'm afraid not. It happened so fast…I never saw it coming."

"Neither did we," Cloud said.

Little Mac sat beside Caeda and squeezed one of her shoulders. She didn't fight the contact, though she didn't respond to it either. She just sat there as she tried to fully comprehend what the hell just happened. Tears fell down her cheeks, but she didn't feel like she was truly crying.

Less an half an hour later, Dr. Mario exited the operating room. He was in the middle of trying to clean some blood off his white coat. He looked up with an unclear expression while Caeda and the SSIS crowded him.

"The President is dead. His wounds were too grave to treat. He would've died regardless of how soon he arrived here. I'm so sorry."

The situation hit Caeda harder than she thought it would. She almost fell to the ground, but Captain Falcon caught her before she landed. He tried to take to her to a private room to mourn privately, but she refused.

"I need to see my husband one last time…please."

Dr. Mario escorted her into the operating room, but she didn't stay there for long. It took only a couple minutes for her to wail her way into a secluded room.

"We need to comfort her," Link said.

"Now isn't the time, unfortunately," Captain Falcon replied. "We need to figure out how to handle the news of his death. We have to release the news, but not in a way that'll have the media gossiping."

Little Mac scoffed. "They're gonna speculate and gossip about it no matter what. You and I both know that."

"He's right," Cloud said.

"Well regardless how we release it, you all need to be on your best behaviour," Captain Falcon explained. "No giving interviews to the news, no releasing statements- none of that shit. Do I make myself clear?"

The remaining men nodded.

"Good. Now, you guys need to stay with Caeda. We can't have her here on her own."

"Where are you going?" Link asked.

"To the President's House. I need to break the news to everyone else before the media beats me to it."

But Captain Falcon didn't leave immediately. He slipped into an alleyway to make an important phone call. The person on the other end picked up after two rings.

"Hello."

"This is Captain Falcon, head of the Smash Secret Service. We need your help. The President was just assassinated. I need you and your guys to catch the son of a bitch that did it."

* * *

"Everyone, I have a sad announcement to make. As many of you are aware, the President and the First Lady were on their way to the park so the President could deliver a speech on climate change. While on his way there, someone shot him multiple times from afar. He was rushed to Smashville Hospital, where he died shortly thereafter."

Captain Falcon looked out to see the President's staff were in shock over the news. Most of them had spoken to President Marth that morning before he'd left. The fact that he was no longer with them anymore was hard to accept. Some of them shed tears, while others tried to comfort their colleagues.

"There won't be a funeral service until the murderer has been caught. But for now, I'd like us all to have a moment of silence to remember our beloved President. He will be missed by all who knew him."

As a sad silence filled the air, Captain Falcon allowed the tears he'd held back to finally leave his eyes.

* * *

 **There you go! I hope you all enjoyed the prologue. :)**

 **Please review, and don't forget to stay tuned for chapter one! :D**

 _\- Elizabeth_


	2. Chapter 1

**Hey, guys! Well, here's the first real chapter of this fanfic! I'm so very happy to see that people love the redux of this fanfic, so I'm definitely going to continue writing it! Let's get to it, shall we?**

 **I own nothing related to Nintendo.**

 **Please read & enjoy! :D**

* * *

"You're kidding!"

"Have I ever been known to kid, Robin?"

"Well…no. But now I'm wishing otherwise. It would make me not want to believe the news."

Lucina sighed. If her morning was any indication, then today was going to be a rough day. She raked a hand through her hair with a pessimistic grin. She had to think of something to say to make her friend and colleague feel better.

"Ike said you wouldn't lose your job."

Robin let out a laugh. "I'm worried about that, to be honest. I'm not upset."

"But you sound upset!"

"No I'm not. I'm just surprised, that's all. Wouldn't you?"

"I suppose," Lucina mused. "Though I must admit, I'd be a little upset because I would feel as though I was being replaced."

"I'm still gonna have a job, right? So what I have to worry about?"

Before Lucina could respond, a silver-haired man who looked almost identical to Robin- save for his sex- approached them.

"I'm sorry to interrupt," he said, "but I'm looking for Robin."

Robin smiled. "That would be me. Is there something you need?"

"I'm Rob, SBI's newest Tech Analyst. I'm assuming you're the current Tech Analyst?"

"I am. It's nice to meet you."

The two shook hands, and then Rob shook Lucina's hand.

"I'm Lucina, the Communications Liaison. I help with media conferences and news releases for the SBI."

"Nice to meet you."

SBI Unit Chief Ike suddenly came up to the trio. His body language showed a man with a big burden on his shoulders. His eyes looked cold, yet hard to read.

"We need to get started."

"Of course," Lucina replied.

Rob walked right beside Ike, while Lucina and Robin trailed behind from a couple feet away.

"I wonder what's happened," Lucina said. "Usually, I'm the one who briefs the team about the case."

"It must be something big if Ike's briefing us," Robin remarked. "On another note, don't you think Rob's kind of cute?"

"He's…alright, I suppose. I don't usually think about such things. Besides, you just met him."

Robin laughed again. "You can think someone looks cute, even if you barely know them. There's nothing wrong with that."

Lucina shook her head, but didn't comment further on the matter.

Thy all enter the briefing room, where the rest of the SBI already sat. It was a spacious room with a large oval table in the centre. Chairs surrounded it, most of them currently occupied by a body. A large white board hung on the wall in front of it, and a small TV sat close beside that. Lucina, Robin, and Rob each found an empty seat, and waited for Ike to speak.

"I'd like to quickly introduce everyone to our newest Tech Analyst, Rob," he began. "He'll be part of the team for here on in, and this is his first case with us."

Rob waved briefly as others greeted him.

"So, what do we have?" Supervisory Special Agent Shulk asked.

Ike turned the TV on to SNN. An overused _Breaking News_ graphic ended just in time for the SBI to see what had transpired just hours ago.

"President Marth was assassinated."

Ike's words were not what anyone had expected. All eyes fixated on the TV screen to try and comprehend what they had learned. Some agents looked horrified, while others seemed to be in a deep sense of shock.

"Oh Gods," Robin breathed out.

That was everyone's cue to turn their attention back to Ike. He tried his best to remain calm, but some noticed that the assassination had shaken his tough exterior. He would've been lying if he told anything that the news didn't have an impact on him. He took a deep breath before continuing to speak.

"The Smash Secret Service called me an hour and a half ago to brief me on the case. I know as much as they and the doctors do. And believe me, it's not much."

"Do we have any crime scene photos?" Senior Supervisory Special Agent Snake asked.

"Not yet. They were taken half an hour after the assassination," Ike replied. "The crime unit has been busy trying to develop each and every photo by hand. The machine they'd normally use for such is broken beyond repair, so we don't have them yet. They promised to have the photos in by this afternoon."

"So what _do_ we know?" Supervisory Special Agent Samus asked.

"President Marth, First Lady Caeda, and the Smash Secret Service were on their way to a local park so that the President could give a speech on climate change. The President, First Lady, the Head of the SSIS, and the President's driver were all in a convertible, while the rest of the SSIS drove a large SUV. On their way there, the suspect fired four shots, each one hitting the President. No one else was hit. They rushed him to the hospital, where he died shortly after. He more than likely bled to death."

"That sounds awful!" Shulk cried. "I can't imagine how his wife and the Secret Service must feel."

"Neither can I," Ike said. "And as you can see, the media already knows about the assassination. I'm confident that if they don't already know that the SBI is investigating it, they will soon."

"Gossip will circulate in the media more so than facts," Lucina added. "That's going to make things difficult, especially for me. But I shall prepare a media release about how we're leading the investigation, and that questions will be answered later on. I'll release it this afternoon or this evening."

"Perfect. Robin, I need you to get Rob situated in your work area. I'll call you two if and when we need something. For now, be ready to assist."

"Sounds good," Robin replied.

Rob nodded. "Thank you, Sir."

"Samus, I'm going to get you to interview Caeda about what she saw," Ike said. "Keep in mind that she's going to be emotionally distraught about what's happened. At least, she should be emotionally distraught. Take note of any unusual behaviour, or if she says anything that's inappropriate about her husband's death."

"Sounds good," Samus replied.

"Snake, you and I will go to the crime scene to get a feel of what happened. After that, we're going to the President's House to interview the SSIS and driver. We'll also interview any other staff members to see who would have wanted to kill the President. Shulk, I need you to go to the autopsy. Find out how the President died, and see if you can get information how what kind of gun killed him."

"Damn, we have our work cut out for us," Snake noted.

"We certainly do," Ike said. "That's exactly why we can't waste any more time. Let's get started."

* * *

"Welcome to _Yesterday's News Today!_ My name is Whitman! It's time to get into the stupid shit that happened yesterday, and talk about it today. Come on, you all know the routine by now…or at least, you should."

The man watching the show laughed. He loves this show. It's his favourite show of all time, and he's the kind of guy that only watches TV to stay caught up on the news.

 _Yet this isn't even a news show,_ he thought. _It's a comedy show. It's a fake news show, but it's a damn good show at that._

The man chuckled when the host began joking about some big corporate scandal. He didn't catch the company's name, but he didn't care. All he needed was a flimsy excuse to laugh.

A part of him said that watching this episode was pointless; it wasn't going to be about anything he gave a fuck about. Tonight's episode was the one he looked forward to more than any other. Tonight's episode was going to be the best episode of all time.

After all, it would be the episode that the host would talk about his infamous crime.

 _Talk about fucking perfect._

* * *

 **There you go! I hope you all enjoyed it. :)**

 **Review Responses:**

 ** _Shana Hager_ : I'm glad to hear all that. Thank you!**

 ** _PozzyP_ : Thank you so much! Seriously, you're way too kind. LOL, I get you. XD**

 ** _MahNati_ : YAY! I'm so happy to hear that! Is it wrong that I don't feel bad about killing Marth off? Think about this: if his death didn't happen, there wouldn't be a story! LOL, I'm a little crazy. :P Yeah, there's gonna be quite a few changes with this fanfic. I think you're gonna like them. :)**

 ** _SeththeGreat_ : Awesome! I'm so glad to hear that, and I hope you continue to read this fanfic.**

 **Please review, and don't forget to stay tuned for chapter 2! :D**

 _\- Elizabeth_


	3. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I own nothing related to Nintendo.**

 **Please read & enjoy! :D**

* * *

Rob followed Robin down a long drab hallway from the briefing room. It took the two several minutes to reach their destination, but it turned out to be worth it. Rob's eyes scanned the office-like room with wonder. Two chairs sat in front of four- no, five- different computer monitors that had nothing open on them yet. Each monitor was different in size, though not by much. A rubber mat lied on the hardwood floor to protect it from the wheels of the office chairs.

"This is incredible!"

"Doesn't it look great?" Robin joked. "I think it's the best room in SBI Headquarters. But you didn't hear that from me."

Rob smirked. "So, where do I sit?"

"The shorter chair. Sorry, but I get the better chair. This is _my_ office, after all, so I get the better things."

"I can't argue with that."

Silence suddenly filled the room. Robin sat in her chair and began to check her email. But Rob continued standing around, unsure of what to do.

Robin soon felt eyes staring a hole into her back. She looked over to see Rob fidgeting with his hands.

"You don't need an invitation to sit down."

Rob's cheeks flushed as he hurried to fill in the empty seat.

"I didn't know if you wanted me to do something else first."

"If I did, I would've told you. But nope, that's not the case. Now, I need you to help go through some crime scene photos. Seems like the crime scene unit managed to email them over finally. Is that too much to handle?"

At first, Rob thought Robin was insulting him. But when he looked at her, he saw the faintest hint of a smirk grace her features. Rob managed to bite back a chuckle by smirking in return.

"I can handle that, thank you. That's an easier task than sitting in a chair, apparently."

Robin laughed. "I see that."

With that, the two Tech Analysts began shifting through the few crime scene photos they had received.

* * *

Ike and Snake got out of their car on the street where the President had been shot. The streets were deserted, save for a police car and some other vehicles scattered about. Most businesses that resided on this street had closed early in an attempt to keep customers away from the crime scene. So there was hardly a soul about in this part of Smashville.

"This looks like a safe part of town," Snake remarked. "I can't see a shooting happening here."

"Neither can I," Ike said. "These are fairly popular businesses, too."

He wasn't wrong about that. There weren't many businesses at this location, but they were ones that both men recognized. A hardware store and car repair shop sat side by side, while a large old-fashioned diner was on the other side of the street. All three looked like they were out of business, but Ike knew better.

"Do we know where the President was shot?"

Snake walked a couple feet in the middle of the road to find a clue. He eyed the asphalt carefully until small red dots caught his attention.

"Right about here."

Ike walked over to see what he had found. Small droplets of blood stained the dark grey pavement. It could have easily been missed if someone hadn't looked hard enough.

"I think the crime techs missed this," Snake said.

"It's likely," Ike replied.

Snake looked up to scan the rest of his surroundings. An unfamiliar face walking about the crime scene stopped him fairly quick. He squinted to get a better look, but it didn't help much. They were too far away to judge who exactly they were.

"Who's that?"

Confused, Ike looked over to where his colleague's eyes had landed. He also didn't recognize the person, and that concerned him.

"Let's go see who it is."

The two men went over to speak to the person. As they got closer, they realized it was a young woman with empty manila envelopes in her hands. She was busy sorting them in some sort of order.

"And who are you?" Ike asked. "Should you be here?"

The women jumped, having not expected someone to interrupt her. She tucked the envelopes under her arm and pulled out a badge.

"Inspector Winnie of the Smash Crime Unit. You must be the SBI."

Ike and Snake pulled out their badges to show her proof.

"I'm Unit Chief Ike, this is Senior Supervisory Special Agent Snake. We apologize for startling you. We didn't realize you were a crime technician."

"It's alright," Winnie said. "I know you're only doing your job. Can I help you at all?"

"I'd like to ask you a few questions, if that's alright," Snake replied.

"Ask away."

"What did you and your guys find?"

"Not much, I'm afraid. There weren't any shell casings anywhere we could find here, or in the car."

"You have the car the President was in when he was shot?"

"It's in our crime scene garage as we speak. A few of our guys are still processing it for evidence, but no shell casings were found when we inspected the interior."

"The suspect must've used a revolver," Ike noted.

Winnie nodded. "That's kinda what we're thinking."

"We found a few blood droplets on the ground back there," Snake said, pointing behind him. "Do you know about that?"

"Yes. I photographed it and took a sample, though I'm confident it belongs to the President. Other than that, I haven't seen more here. I can't say the same for the car. That thing was saturated in blood, mostly in the back seat."

"Have you seen any security cameras? I haven't noticed any yet."

"I'm afraid that isn't going to change. I didn't see a single one when all my guys were here earlier. I'm sorry."

Ike frowned. This street wasn't old at all, so one would think that security cameras would cover it head to toe. Clearly, that wasn't the case here.

"So we have nothing to go on as of right now."

"Looks like it," Snake said.

"Well, Winnie," Ike added, "I appreciate your help. Do you have a phone number I could use to contact you if I need anything?"

Winnie pulled a business card out of the pocket of her pants and handed it to him.

"Call anytime. The SCU would love to help. It's all so sad…I never thought I'd have to investigate the assassination of our President. I never thought it'd happen here. This is such a safe place."

 _I guess it's not as safe as we all thought it was_ , Ike thought.

* * *

"Start from the beginning."

Caeda looked at Samus with tears in her eyes. "I don't even know where to begin. I heard you, but…it's hard to think about what happened. Painful, even. I'm sure you understand."

Samus nodded. She knew that interviewing the First Lady would be a difficult task for obvious reasons. She had to witness her husband being shot and killed right beside her. So Samus would have understood if she didn't want to talk about what had happened.

Somehow, Caeda blinked her tears away and took a deep breath.

"Marth and I were on our way to the speech. As we were heading there, someone suddenly shot him! There were three or four gunshots…I couldn't say how many for sure. Little Mac, our driver, rushed to the hospital as fast as he could. That…That's where Marth died… Gods…"

Caeda wiped her eyes with her fingers. But Samus noticed that she didn't have tears in her eyes anymore. Now the more she looked at Caeda, the more Samus noticed the little charade the First Lady had going on. She tried to come off as devastated over her loss, but it was clear that she wasn't.

 _I could ask her about it. I probably should_ , Samus thought, _but that'd be rude. She just lost for husband, for Christ's sakes. I guess I'll leave it for now._

"Did you see anything out of the ordinary earlier today, or after the shooting?"

"No," Caeda said. "Today seemed great. I didn't think anything like this would happen. It was so sudden…I still can't believe it happened."

"I see," Samus replied absently.

Again, Caeda wiped away imaginary tears. She even sniffled to play up the role of a grieving widow.

"A-Are we done here? I'd like to go now, if I may."

"Of course. You've had an awful day, to put it mildly. You're free to go, First Lady."

Caeda didn't waste any time rushing out of SBI Headquarters. She drove off, but she not home. She took a detour to an alley near an abandoned church, and parked away from the street. She whipped out her cell phone to make a phone call.

"Hello?"

"Hey, it's me."

"I know. I have caller ID."

Caeda scoffed. "Don't be funny with me right now! I just finished speaking to the SBI."

"What?! Why would they wanna speak to you?"

"Oh, I don't know… Maybe because my husband fucking died today?! And I had to watch it happen?!"

"Point taken. That was a stupid question. I'm sorry."

"I'm sorry, too. I shouldn't have snapped at you. I've just been through a lot in one day. I don't really know what to do now."

"Wait- does the SBI know about us?"

"No, no, no! I swear I didn't bring it up. I would never do that to you! They have no idea about us. They won't ever know."

"You promise?"

"I promise."

Caeda hear a sigh on the other end.

"Well then…wanna come over?"

"I was hoping you'd ask."

"I'll see you soon."

After hanging up, Caeda peeled out of the alley to her next destination. She knew she shouldn't be going to where she was off to, but she needed a distraction. She would get exactly that soon, and she was more than looking forward to it.

* * *

 **There you go! I hope you all enjoyed it. :)**

 **Review** **Responses:**

 ** _Shana Hager_ : Maybe...maybe not. You'll find out eventually. ;)**

 ** _Death_ : I'm not gonna tell, I'm not gonna tell! And yes, that's supposed to be read in a sing song voice. I'm an asshole like that. :D I like Marth x Caeda too, don't get me wrong! It's just this is the best way of being a homewrecker without ruining a real marriage (not that I've ever do that, just to be clear).**

 **Please review, and don't forget to stay tuned for chapter 3! :D**

 _\- Elizabeth_


	4. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I own nothing by Nintendo.**

 **Please read & enjoy! :)**

* * *

Ike scowled at the sight before him. In the room across from where he stood, four grown men argued over President Marth's assassination. Ike knew they had all been present when it occurred, and had witnessed the President's death as a result. In fighting was to be expected after such a traumatic event- but this was nothing like he had seen before. If the room they were in wasn't soundproof, he would've certainly heard their bickering.

"This is bad."

Ike gave Snake a sideways glance. "You're telling me."

"Let's break it up before it gets physical."

The SBI agents ran into the room, where they finally got a taste of what the SSIS agents and the President's driver shouted at each other.

"This is all your fault!" Captain Falcon yelled. He lunged towards Little Mac, but the driver was quick enough to dodge it.

"How the fuck is it my fault?" he asked. The edge in his voice made it clear that he didn't appreciate Captain Falcon's anger.

"You should've driven to the hospital faster!" Cloud argued.

"It was Falcon's fault! He didn't stop the bleeding fast enough!"

Captain Falcon's eyes darkened. "What the fuck did you say?!"

"You heard me."

"You sicken me," Link sneered.

" _Enough!_ "

Having not expected the interruption, the four men shrunk in front of Ike. He and Snake circled them before standing a foot or so from them.

"All of your arguing isn't going to bring the President back," Ike said. "Nothing's going to change, no matter how much you yell and curse at each other. I want my colleague and I to interview you all at once, but now I'm not so sure. Do we have to separate you all so that you don't beat each other up?"

"No, Sir," Captain Falcon replied. "I'm sorry for our behaviour. It's a lot for us to take in, and…well, it seems easier to blame the President's death on one of us."

Little Mac scowled, but didn't say anything in response.

"We know it's hard to accept what happened," Snake said, "but that's no excuse."

Captain Falcon sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. The SBI was right, but it didn't lessen the blow caused by the President's assassination. Regardless, he had to swallow hard and focus on the situation at hand.

"What do you want to know?"

"Take us through what happened from the moment the President got shot," Snake replied.

"I'll admit, I didn't see where the shooting came from," Little Mac revealed. "I was too focused on driving to the hospital."

 _Makes sense_ , Ike thought.

"I think it came from a rooftop in the neighbourhood," Cloud mused. "I don't know where exactly."

"I was the driver of the SUV," Link added. "I don't recall seeing much."

Ike turned his attention to Captain Falcon. "And you?"

"I didn't see the shooter. I saw the bullets hit the President in the chest and head. He couldn't stop bleeding. I tried to stop it, but it felt like nothing was working. I…I tried so damn hard…"

Captain Falcon suddenly bolted for the door. He stood outside with his head in his hands, and then began pacing.

"He won't admit it, but he cried earlier today," Link pointed out. "I can't blame him. I did, too. I just did it away from everyone else."

Cloud and Little Mac nodded as if to say that they had done the same.

Snake excused himself to talk to Captain Falcon. He sat him down at a nearby desk to calm down.

"How can this happen? How could I let the President die? I failed…I failed what I swore to do."

"You can't think like that," Snake said. "I believe that when it's your time to go, it's your time to go. It's not your fault, Captain. It's not your fault. And I promise you that the SBI will find the son of a bitch."

Captain Falcon nodded. "You better. If you can't find him, then I will. And you better believe that when I find him, I'll kill him."

Snake's eyes narrowed with concern. He patted the agent's back, hoping that could comfort him even a little bit. He needed it more than ever. He didn't have to say so; it was more than crystal clear to Snake.

* * *

Shulk entered Smashville's morgue as quietly as he could. He looked around for some sort of life in the large, empty building. It seemed ironic considering the location, but it was necessary for what he needed. Learning how the President died could help the SBI find the suspect, and they needed the help. This would only work if he could find someone to speak to.

"This is SSA Shulk of the SBI. Is anybody here?"

A couple minutes later, a tall blonde-haired woman waltzed out of a room. Her long white lab coat had a few splotches of blood on it, but her gloved hands were the worst for that. She was quick to dispose them in a nearby trash can.

"My apologises. I just finished my autopsy on the President. There was more blood than I had expected. I'm Dr. Rosalina, the medical examiner."

Shulk shook her hand. "I'm SSA Shulk. I'm here to learn about your findings."

"That's not a problem," Dr. Rosalina said. "Follow me."

She led Shulk to where the bodies rested in drawers on the wall. She pulled the one that contained President Marth, and removed the white sheet from his face. The look of pain etched on his pale face caught Shulk off guard. He grimaced before looking back at the medical examiner.

"He didn't stand a chance," she began with a sigh. "The suspect used regular bullets; .357 Magnum. I managed to recover all but one bullet from the body. One of the shots to the head is in pieces."

"Where exactly was he shot?" Shulk asked.

"Twice in the head- once in the left side of the head, and again towards the back. The first shot blew through the frontal bone, while the other pierced his parietal bone and bounced around his skull. Both of those injuries would be considered potentially fatal, or fatal. His brain hemorrhaged fast, but that's not what killed him."

"Really."

"Really. The other two gun shots hit his chest. One managed to avoid any major organs, making it non-fatal. But the second pierced his aorta, the main artery of the heart that helps pump blood. Even if he received medical treatment immediately, he most likely would've died. Life support would have been the best case scenario."

Shulk shook his head. "I can't believe it. He must've suffered horribly."

"It's hard to know. I don't get the chance to ask victims what it feels like to be shot. I wouldn't ask them if I could, either."

"Makes sense."

A small yellow star suddenly appeared by Dr. Rosalina's side. It floated in the air with a small baggie in its possession. It gave the object to the medical examiner while remaining in the air.

"Thank you. This is a Luma. It's one of the many that help me out here. They're the only reason I'm not lonely here."

"I see," Shulk replied.

The Luma floated towards him to inspect the unfamiliar face. Sensing that it was safe, the Luma nudged Shulk for a moment before returning to Dr. Rosalina.

"They seem nice," he added. "What was it holding?"

"These are the bullets I recovered from the President's body. I figured you might need them for comparison if you find the murder weapon. You're looking for a .357 Magnum revolver, in case you forgot."

"They're be helpful, that's for sure. Thank you. Is there anything else I should know?"

Dr. Rosalina shook her head. "I'm afraid not. The President was shot from far away, so there was no evidence to find. I looked for a long time, but found nothing. I'm sorry I couldn't be much help, Agent."

"You've done a lot, Doctor. I'm happy with what you did find, and that's important. Thank you so much. Here's my card. Please contact me if you discover something later."

"I shall. Thank you, Agent."

Shulk said his goodbyes to her and Luma, and then left the morgue with the evidence in hand.

* * *

 **There you go! I hope you all enjoyed it. :)**

 **Review Responses:**

 ** _Shana Hager_ : They're completely different characters, that's for sure. It had to happen. As for your questions regarding Caeda...you know I can't tell. That'll just ruin the story. Sorry!**

 ** _Guest_ : Aww, I'm so glad to hear that! YAY! I hope you enjoy the rest of this fanfic!**

 ** _SeththeGreat_ : I'm glad you enjoyed that part! It was quite a lot of fun to write, believe me. You'll find out her true feelings...eventually. :D**

 **Please review, and don't forget to stay tuned for chapter four! :D**

 _\- Elizabeth_


	5. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I own nothing by Nintendo.**

 **Please read & enjoy! :D**

* * *

Lucina exited SBI Headquarters to face the media's scrutiny that evening. The almost constant flash of light bulbs from cameras and people shouting their questions would unnerve a rookie Communications Liaison. But Lucina was no rookie. She'd been in this position so many times that it no longer fazed her. She simply absorbed it all with a calm, yet professional expression written on her face.

She waited until the media got the hint that she had something to say. They slowly quieted down, and waited to hear what the SBI had to say about the President's assassination.

"As you may already know, the SBI is leading the investigation into the assassination of President Marth. As of right now, we are working on every lead we receive, and will not leave any stone unturned. We are also asking for the public's help. If anyone has any information about the case, they can leave an anonymous tip at 1-800-SBI-TIPS. That's 1-800-SBI-TIPS. No questions will be answered today, but they will be answered at a later date, once we have more information. Thank you."

News anchors from multiple news networks scrambled to ask Lucina just one question, but she didn't give them a moment of her time. All she wanted was to just get the hell away from the media circus that threatened to swallow her whole. Once they were far enough away from her, she bolted for Robin's office. She didn't even bother to knock before entering.

"Good job on the media conference, Lucina."

"Thanks. Hey, where's Rob?"

"He went out to grab some coffee. Want me to call him to get you some?"

"No thank you. I don't need coffee to keep me awake tonight. My nightmares of the media trying to break into my apartment to ask me questions about the murder will more than do that."

"Gods, I can only imagine. How can you sleep after all that?"

"I usually don't, to be honest."

Robin bit her lip. "The media can get to you. I can tell."

"A little. But that's to be expected. Even Ike gets sick of them. The media doesn't understand that we don't know everything. We're not hiding things from them, but they don't believe it. There's always that 'what if the SBI's hiding something?', and it's quite irritating."

The phone suddenly rang. Robin smirked as she answered it.

"Mr. I-Wish-I-Could-Foresee-the-Future Shulk! How do you do?"

"Fine. You're peppier than usual, to say the least. Why is that?"

"I'm trying to cheer Lucina up after what she just had to deal with. Excuse me for acting so out of character, but I thought it was needed."

Shulk chuckled. "That's fine. I enjoyed it, actually. Hey, can Lucina hear me?"

"I can," Lucina said. "Hi, Shulk."

"Hey, Luci. I'm sorry about the media being such a pain. I know it's not easy."

"Please don't apologize. You can't do anything about it."

"Still…"

"Shulk, please. I'm happy I have friends who make me feel better afterwards. Believe me when I say that that more than makes up for it."

"I'm glad to hear that."

"Are you two done talking? I'd like to get back to work now," Robin said.

Lucina and Shulk laughed at their friend's pretend annoyance. They exchanged goodbyes before allowing Robin to end the call.

"There is one thing I do wonder," Lucina suddenly remarked.

"What's that?"

"Do you think the killer watched the media conference?"

Robin frowned. "Probably. But I'm not a profiler, so I'm honestly not sure."

"I see."

"Don't wonder whether or not he has, though. It'll bother you, and you know it. Besides, I'm sure Ike will want to speak to you about the conference soon. You should get going."

"Oh Gods, I completely forgot about that! Thanks for the reminder! I'd better make haste."

Lucina dashed out of Robin's office, almost colliding into Rob in the process. He watched her run, amused.

"What's with her?"

Robin sipped her coffee with a smirk. "Nothing major."

* * *

"The SBI has made it clear that they are leading the investigation into the President's assassination."

He knows that. Everyone who watched the media conference knows that. Christ, even those who _didn't_ watch it know that! Then again, leave it to SNN to state the obvious as breaking news. Seriously, how fucking incompetent can you be?

He changes the channel to another news station.

"The SBI is urging the public to come forward if they have any information."

How boring. SBC could never hold his attention for long. Perhaps another channel could change that.

"How is it that the SBI doesn't know who did this?"

"They probably already know who did it, but don't have the evidence to prove it!"

 _This shit again?_

At least he wasn't bored anymore. No, now he was beyond annoyed. Leave it to Smash & Fox News to come up with conspiracy bullshit to terrify their aging viewers.

He suddenly realizes that his favourite show is on now. He's quick to change the channel so that he doesn't miss it. He's only missed the entrance, but not much else. The host hadn't even introduced himself yet.

"Welcome to _Yesterday's News Today_! My name is Whitman, and I'd like to thank you all for tuning in. Now normally, I'd be a lot funnier in my introduction. But given what's happened just earlier today, I'm afraid I can't do that. And I sincerely apologize if that bothers anyone."

 _Oh? Please, do go on._

"President Marth was assassinated this morning by an unknown assailant as he was on his way to a climate change speech. Look, I understand it's hard to comprehend such a senseless act, but I'll try hard to do so. And this is one of the times where I enjoy being on SHBO, because I can say anything without much consequence."

 _Is that so? I'm curious to hear what you have to say._

"To the person responsible: you are a fucking asshole. You have no clue what you've gotten yourself into. You've just angered the most powerful city in this world, and that is no easy task! I've been trying to do that for years, and I still haven't done it! The point is, you have no idea of the magnitude of your actions. And I guarantee that when you get caught, the SBI is going to give you the harsh justice that you deserve."

Now _this_ is what he wanted to hear. Sure, any media attention about his crime was welcomed with a devilish grin and cackle. But this show focused on the crime itself, rather than bullshit and politics. It was rare, and that was a shame. He wished the real news would take some pointers from fake news, but he knew how unlikely that was.

 _I don't even mind that he insulted me. He knows how to talk about the assassination the way it should be. That impresses me quite a bit._

Even after the host moved on to talk about the latest Smash & Fox News clusterfuck that happened yesterday, he continued to watch the episode. The coverage of the assassination made it okay to continue watching. He needed a break from his thoughts, anyways.

* * *

 **There you go! I hope you all enjoyed it. :)**

 **Review Responses:**

 ** _Shana Hager_ : I had to. I felt guilty not including Luma in the original fanfic, so I knew I had to this time around.**

 ** _SeththeGreat_ : Possibly. But who knows? XD**

 ** _Bluefoot_ : I'm so happy to hear that! Thank you for your kind words!**

 **Please review, and don't forget to stay tuned for chapter 5! :D**

 _\- Elizabeth_


	6. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I own nothing by Nintendo.**

 **Please read & enjoy! :D**

* * *

By now, it was late in the night. The first day of the investigation into the assassination of President Marth was almost over. But that didn't mean much to Ike. Even as the clock rolled closer to midnight, he didn't feel the need to rest. He wanted to continue finding clues, and interviewing those closest to the President.

He decided on a whim to call Winnie from the Smash Crime Unit. A part of him figured that she would still be awake too. She had expressed such sadness over what had happened when they first met that it wouldn't surprise him if that was the case. Perhaps she and her team had finished processing the convertible for evidence. That was highly likely, and Ike knew it.

He scrolled through the contact list on his phone, only to come to the conclusion that he never got her phone number. Now calling her was out of the question. He set his phone down with a small grunt. So much for his idea.

Then his phone suddenly rang. He grabbed it to see who the hell would call at almost 11:30 at night. He didn't recognize the number, so he answered with caution.

"This is Ike of the SBI."

"Hello, Sir. It's Inspector Winnie of the SCU."

Ike couldn't believe his luck. He had to bite his tongue to stop a gasp. He cleared his throat before responding.

"I'm glad you called, Inspector."

"Honestly, I'm surprised you answered me at this time. I apologize for not calling sooner."

"No, it's okay. I'd rather you call late at night than not call at all. Anyways, did you and your team find anything in the convertible?"

Winnie sighed. "Nothing you could work with, I'm afraid. As I mentioned before, we couldn't find any shell casings. Furthermore, all the blood we found in the car matched the victim, which I expected. Other than that, we found nothing else out of the ordinary. No bomb, trap…nothing! It's all quite frustrating."

"It is," Ike said. "I appreciate the help. Do you mind if I call you whenever I need some evidence processed?"

"Not at all! We're here to help as best we can. We all want to catch the suspect, so we're willing to help the SBI. You have our full cooperation."

"Thank you, Winnie. I hope you'll get some sleep soon."

"Same for you. Don't work too hard, Chief."

Ike smirked. "I'll try. Talk to you later."

He hung up just as the rest of the SBI- save for the Robins, who were still in their office- walked into the briefing room.

"I called us all here to regroup," Ike explained. "Let me call Rob and Robin so they know what's going on, too."

Robin picked up on the second ring.

"Are you calling to tell us that we can go home now?"

Ike couldn't help but chuckle. "Not yet, I'm afraid."

"We're just regrouping," Shulk said.

"Oh, alright. Well, Rob and I haven't done much. We got the crime scene photos earlier, and we went through each and every one twice. Neither one of us could find anything unusual to bring to your attention."

"Wow," Lucina said. "I thought for sure one of you would find something!"

"So did we," Rob piped up. "But we didn't. Sorry."

"Honestly, I'm not surprised," Snake said. "Ike and I visited the scene, and we didn't find anything suspicious."

"I got off the phone with the SCU a moment ago," Ike added. "There were no shell casings at the scene, and few blood droplets. The majority of the blood was found in the convertible where the President was shot. We're confident it all matches him."

"That makes sense," Lucina remarked. "After all, no one else got shot."

"Oh, yeah, I've been meaning to ask: how did your interview with the First Lady go?" Robin suddenly asked.

Samus frowned. "It went fine, but she acted a little…odd, if that's the right word. Yeah, that's right; odd."

"How so?" Ike asked with a frown of her own.

"She didn't cry all that much when I questioned her about what had happened. It almost looked like she faked her tears to look like a grieving widow. I don't think she had anything to do with the assassination, but something's not right. My gut is telling me so."

Ike nodded. "Robin, Rob, I'd like you two to look into Caeda's past. Find out everything about her from as far back as she can. But don't ignore anything recent. We can't afford to miss one detail."

"Sounds good," Rob said.

"I was about to say that," Robin whined in a hushed voice.

"I heard that," Ike revealed.

The rest of the team held back their laughter as Robin scoffed with embarrassment.

"Sorry, Sir."

"It's fine."

"Also," Samus continued, "the First Lady seemed like she wanted to end the interview as soon as possible. It raised a red flag, that's for sure. I figured the stress of today wore her down, so I let her leave."

"Smart move," Snake said. "You don't want her to think that we suspect her of anything. The Smash Secret Service will protect her with their lives after today."

"How are they holding up?"

"They're self-destructing. But that's not the only issue. They all didn't see the shooter. Some of them couldn't even say where the gun fire came from. I think they need some time to process today's events. I'm thinking of interviewing them in a couple days, but we'll see."

The SBI silently agreed on that.

"Shulk, what did you learn from the autopsy?" Ike asked.

"Well," Shulk began, "the President was shot four times- twice in the head, and twice in the chest. The two gunshot wounds to the head were deemed to be potentially fatal, and one chest wound was actually non-fatal. The wound he sustained to his aorta was the one that killed him. Oh, and he was shot with a .357 Magnum."

"A .357 Magnum revolver," Snake mused. "Shit, it's still gonna be hard to find the shooter. That kind of gun is quite popular."

"The M.E. also said that the President didn't stand a chance. Had he had lived, he would be on life support right now."

Snake let out a low whistle. "Damn…"

"It's so sad," Robin piped up.

"It's like he was simply doomed to die the moment he was shot," Lucina chimed in.

"I did get three of the bullets that struck the President," Shulk said. "One bullet broke into pieces in his head, so it can't be used for evidence. But we have three bullets from the President's body to compare to bullets from guns like our murder weapon."

"That's good," Ike replied. "If we find the murder weapon, we'll compare the bullets from it to those bullets."

Robin suddenly yawned over the phone, surprising the rest of the team. But it also triggered yawns from most of them slowly but surely. A round of exhausted laughter soon followed.

"I'm sorry, Sir," Robin said, "but I'm just so tired. It's almost one o'clock in the morning on Saturday, and we've been going since about nine AM yesterday straight. Don't you think we should get some rest?"

"Yes, I think so," Ike chuckled. "Everyone go home and get a few hours of sleep. We'll meet back here at seven AM sharp."

The team grumbled at the early morning wake-up call, but no one objected. Once Ike made his mind up about anything- no matter how minor it was- he refused to change his mind about it.

So everyone packed up their belongings, and retired to their respective homes for some much-needed sleep. If they wanted any chance to solve this case, they'd have to recharge for a few hours before resuming.

* * *

 **There you go! I hope you all enjoyed i. :)**

 **Review Responses:**

 ** _Shana Hager_ : Lucina really does have the best of friends, that's for sure. And what an excellent comparison you made! I did draw some inspiration from that real life case to this fanfic, though certainly not all of it. But I got quite a bit of inspiration for this fanfic from the murder of John Lennon.**

 ** _SeththeGreat_ : Thank you so much! I was worried that it would fly over people's heads, but I'm happy to see that that's not the case. I'm glad someone understood my brand of humour. :)**

 **Please review, and don't forget to stay tuned for chapter 6! :D**

 _\- Elizabeth_


	7. Chapter 6

**Hey, guys! So, this is the longest chapter to date in this fanfic! A lot of shit is going to go down, so let's get to it! :)**

 **I own nothing by Nintendo.**

 **Anyways, please read & enjoy! :D**

* * *

It was about six in the morning when Robin arrived to SBI headquarters. The rest of team had yet to show, so she took her time setting up her office for the day. She placed her bag to the side and turned her computer on. As she waited for it to load, she savoured the slightly bitter taste of her coffee. Since she started this job almost five years ago, she'd grown to depend on the beverage to wake her up. It would be a huge crutch in a case this massive, and she knew it. But she knew better to complain. She'd chosen this job and lifestyle; it would be foolish of her to complain. Besides, she kind of like it.

The sound of footsteps startled Robin out of her thoughts. She stepped out of her office to see Rob wandering around the main office area. She watched as he stumbled about in an attempt to find her office. He seemed completely and utterly lost as to where the hell it was. Robin considered watching the amusing sight longer, but she decided to put him out of his misery.

"Hey, Rob! Over here."

Rob jumped upon hearing his name called. He whipped his head left and right until he saw Robin standing in the doorway of her office. She had the biggest smirk on her face as she leaned on the door frame, arms crossed over her chest.

"Thanks. And, uh…sorry about that."

"It's okay. It's a big room, and my office's kinda off to the side."

"That's true."

Robin shook her head and giggled as she led Rob inside. He took a seat not far from her with a sigh.

"Is something bothering you?" Robin asked.

"It's just the case."

"No, it's something else. I know that look. Most people I know have made that same expression."

"And what kind of expression do I have right now?"

"You look like something's bothering you that isn't this case."

Rob groaned. "Fine, you win. I'm just still dealing with a break up."

"Oh. I'm so sorry. When did that happen?"

"A year ago. You'd think I'd be over it by now. But no, I'm not. It was a nasty break up, and my ex moved on way too fast. I think she cheated with her new boyfriend, but I don't know. He liked dark crap like the occult, and so did she. They had a lot in common, I guess. Anyways, a part of me is happy that I'm no longer with her because she was so toxic. But on the other, it still sucks to break up with someone you've been with for almost two years. My ex is the reason I'm a little wary of women."

Realizing he had been rambling, Rob looked up to see Robin staring at him.

"Er, sorry. I didn't mean to talk on and on. We should get to work before everyone else shows."

But Robin didn't budge. "Do you think all women are awful?"

That question caught Rob off guard. He opened his mouth to reply, but closed it a moment later. He did this a couple times to try and come up with a decent response.

"Not every woman is awful, Rob," Robin added. "Painting us all with the same brush is wrong, and- dare I say- insulting."

"You're right- and that's the worst part about all this," Rob said. "I know it's wrong, but to me, it makes sense."

"Still! That doesn't make it any better."

"Look, I don't want to argue over this. I'm sorry that I upset you. But we have a lot of work to do, and I don't think Ike and the other would appreciate it if we spent our day bickering. Can we talk about this later?"

Robin scowled. She was far from though arguing with Rob, but he did make a good point. They had to get to work on researching Caeda. So Robin shut her mouth, and closed off the part of her brain that wanted to continue arguing.

The two Tech Analysts got to work soon after. They poured a vast amount of time looking through Caeda's past. They started at the beginning, when she had been born and raised in a world known as Altea. She had come from an upper-middle class family, and seemed to have had a pleasant childhood. She met Marth while visiting Smashville, and they had married two years after that. So far, nothing out of the ordinary had appeared.

"The First Lady seems clean," Rob remarked.

"I'm surprised," Robin said. "I always believe that everyone has something to hide. A skeleton or two hidden in in their closet, if you will. I find it very hard to believe that Caeda is an exception."

"Maybe she is. She has no criminal record, no history of mental illness, or tragic past. She's had a good life. I'm a little jealous."

"I'm not. Maybe her past is clean, but not her present. Let's look through her current state."

With a lot of searching and a little scrolling, Robin found the couple's bank statements and phone records. But their finances held no large amounts of debt, and there didn't seem to be any unusual phone calls to their residence.

"The President had his own personal cell phone," Robin revealed. "I know we're supposed to focus on Caeda, but maybe we should quickly look at those phone records?"

"Couldn't hurt," Rob said. "Let's do it."

Robin pulled up the documents, and quickly discovered something strange. Marth had made multiple calls to a well-known private investigation firm, Smashville P.I. He had spoken to only one private investigator named Mario.

"The SBI's gonna wanna talk to him."

"Oh, yeah. I just wrote down his info. Does Caeda have a cell phone?" Rob asked.

"Probably," Robin answered. "She's only human, after all. But we don't know how to find her cell number. We'll need that if we want to pull those phone records."

"I know a way."

"Oh?"

Rob nodded before diving into Smashville's International Phone Number Database. He typed in Caeda's name, and the computer spat out a phone number.

"I didn't know that existed," Robin confessed. "How did you know about this site before me?"

"This was one of the first websites my friend showed me when I began coding. He was quite experienced with computers."

Robin nodded, despite still being struck with awe. She snapped out of it a second later to focus back on the important task at hand.

"We need to see her phone records."

They appeared less than a minute later. Rows of phone numbers and call times filled Rob's computer screen, as well the caller's identity. There were multiple phone calls made to and by Caeda with one phone number long before Marth's assassination. What was equally suspicious was that the caller ID was listed as _Private_.

"Clearly, whoever Caeda talked to didn't want us to know their identity," Rob said.

"But we can find out," Robin added. "Enter their name in Smashville's Citizens Database."

Rob did just that. The database quickly revealed a name and photo.

"His name is Roy."

"Why would Caeda call _him_?"

"We'll find out soon enough."

* * *

Once the remaining members of the SBI had arrived, the Robins had informed them of everything they had discovered. While most of the team wanted both Roy and Caeda to be interviewed, Ike had decided that Mario, the private investigator, needed to be interviewed beforehand. He agreed to come to headquarters for questioning at once. Shulk was the agent selected to interview him.

"I'm SSA Shulk," he said. "You must be Mario, correct?"

"I am indeed," Mario replied. "I'm a private investigator for Smashville P.I., and have been for over ten years."

"So what reasons do people have to contact you?"

"Oh, there's plenty of reasons. Some want to find out if someone scammed them in a major way. It's mostly involves an individual that got scammed by a contractor, or by someone else in the construction industry. I'm also called by people who want to stalk others, but I refuse to help them whatsoever. I could never live with myself if I was the reason that someone died at the hands of a stalker."

"What about…say…cheating spouses?"

"Those are the kind of people that call me the most. It's usually a wife claiming that she's found a little evidence of her husband cheating. But since she thinks the evidence isn't much, she'll called Smashville P.I. to find out if it's true. I'm not the only P.I. working for them; there's more of us than you think. So I'm a little surprised that I the SBI wants to talk to me."

"Phone records from the President's cell phone show that he called you several times a couple months before he died. Why was that?"

Mario's face fell a little, but his voice did not falter. If anything, he sounded stronger than before.

"The President believed that his wife- the First Lady- was having an affair. He didn't know with who, and his only reasoning for suspicion was a so-called 'hunch'. But I wasn't about to turn down his offer, especially since the pay cheque was fantastic."

"And what did you find?" Shulk questioned.

"Well, I tracked the First Lady's credit card records to different hotels and motels around Smashville. They were all one-night stays, too. I camped out a few times outside them, and I always saw her enter a room with a redheaded-man. She'd drive to the hotel on her own, wait for him to come out, and then check them into the room. They didn't leave until the next morning. I didn't bug their room with cameras or microphones, but it's not hard to figure out what went down in those four walls."

"How long did to do surveillance on the couple?"

"Just over a month."

"And did you tell the President your findings."

"No."

Shulk raised his eyebrows. "Why not?"

"I tried contacting him after I complied lots of evidence, but I never heard back from the President. He kept sending my calls to voicemail. He had been pretty busy lately, so I chalked it up to that. He paid me too, so I couldn't get too angry at him. He died not knowing the truth about his wife's infidelities."

That had to be one of the truest statements Shulk had heard in his entire career. He gave Mario a solemn nod before excusing himself. He went into another room, where Ike and Samus had watched the interrogation.

"So the First Lady was having an affair, and the President got suspicious," Shulk declared.

"We need to interview her and her lover," Samus said. "We can see if he had anything to do with the President's death."

"You think he's the shooter?"

"It's hard to tell," Ike interjected. "But we have to explore every lead. Here's a picture of Roy, the guy Caeda called a lot. See if this is the same guy Mario spotted with her."

Shulk nodded before returning to the interrogation room. He kept the photo behind his back until he reached the desk. He then shoved the photo in Mario's direction.

"Is this the man you spotted with Caeda during your surveillance?"

Mario studied the picture for a full minute. He looked at Shulk and gave him a nod.

"That's the guy."

* * *

Caeda's hands grabbed at the bed sheets. The light blue cotton surrounded her frame to warm her up a bit. Truthfully, it wasn't needed to warm her up; she already was quite content. The reason for that threaded one hand through her blue locks, messing them up. But Caeda didn't mind. She couldn't think of another place she wanted to be in that moment.

"Gods, you were incredible, Roy," she boasted.

"Thank you, love. You were better, though."

"Oh, please."

"It's true!" Roy exclaimed. "You're my favourite person in Smashville, period. There's no competition."

His bragging made Caeda blush. But she wasn't about to argue with him. It had been too long since they'd been together like this; in bed, basking in the aftermath of mind blowing sex. They had to put their affair on hold for over a week because Marth had had a lot of speeches to suddenly attend. So to finally be reunited with her lover had Caeda more than a little giddy.

"I don't wanna ruin the moment," Roy suddenly said, "but…does the SBI know about our affair?"

"No," Caeda replied with a small huff.

"And the SSIS doesn't know either?"

There was a bigger huff. "No, Roy. I promise I didn't tell them."

But Roy didn't seem to be convinced. So Caeda sat up and played with his short red hair. He seemed to relax, though only just. This forced her to straddle him instead. Her hands moved to his chest, where her fingers played with his abs. Roy took turns holding his breath and shifting his weight. Silence hung up in the air for what felt like infinity.

"You're in the mood," he remarked.

"I just missed you so much," Caeda whined.

Roy chuckled. "I missed you too. Let me make up for my absence again."

He pinned her to the bed and kissed her. He was hungry for her love; he needed it so damn bad. It was clear that Caeda felt the same way about him, so why would he try to stop what was about to happen?

* * *

 **There you go! I hope you all enjoyed it. :)**

 **Review Responses:**

 ** _Shana Hager_ : I hope you weren't disappointed! As for Ike & Winnie...I don't know. I don't think anything will happen between them, but who knows? I may just change my mind.**

 ** _ALittleBirdSaid_ : Thank you! I'm so glad you enjoyed it! Yeah, this fanfic was inspired by a few real-life cases, included the assassination of JFK & the murder of John Lennon. This may sound weird as hell, but I'm fascinated by murder cases- especially how and why people kill. But that's all I'll say about that. Please don't call for help. XD**

 **Please review, and don't forget to stay tuned for chapter 7! :D**

 _\- Elizabeth_


	8. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: I own nothing related to Nintendo.**

 **Please read & enjoy! :D**

* * *

Roy knew why he had been called to the SBI. He wasn't a fool; he figured that it had something to do with the President's assassination. His name must've come up one way or another in the investigation, so now he had to give a statement. He couldn't think of a good reason for his name coming up, but he wasn't about to question the SBI. Sure, he had his affair with Caeda to hide from them. But he knew that that wasn't going to come up during their interview. He stepped into the SBI lobby with a cocky stride. He kept his smug demeanour away from his face, though; he didn't want to come off as uncaring to the situation.

"May I help you?" the receptionist.

"You can indeed, Miss…Zelda," Roy replied. "Someone called me here for an interview with the SBI."

"One moment, please."

The receptionist called someone- who exactly, Roy didn't know- and relayed the message. She nodded in a vague manner, and thanked them.

"Someone will be on there way," she said. "You may take a seat in the meantime."

Roy did just that. He tried to get comfortable in the hard plastic chair, but that proved to be difficult. He gave up and sat there, waiting for whoever to come and whisk him away. Though he didn't mind staring at the pretty receptionist in the meantime. At least it distracted him from the uncomfortable chair and environment.

A couple minutes later, a young man with blonde hair and blue eyes entered the lobby from the rest of SBI headquarters. He looked around for a second before he spotted Roy.

"Roy?"

"Yes?"

"I'm SSA Shulk. Thank you for coming in. Please follow me."

Roy was more than surprised at the SBI Agent that would be interviewing him. The guy looked younger than him, for goodness' sakes! He didn't fit the image of an SBI Agent that Roy had in his mind. Maybe that was rather narrow minded of him, but it hadn't been intentional. He still followed SSA Shulk into an interrogation room, and found his seat.

"Can I get you something to drink?" Shulk asked.

"Coffee, please," Roy replied.

Shulk left for a moment, and returned with two cups of coffee. He dumped sweeteners and milks from his pocket onto the table before sitting down.

"So, what's this about?" Roy asked.

"Wanna cut to the chase, I see."

"I'm kinda surprised to be here, that's all. I didn't kill the President, Agent. I was at work when it happened."

"Well, you weren't called because of that. We don't believe you killed President Marth."

Roy's mouth gaped open. "Huh?"

"How well do you know the First Lady, Roy?"

* * *

"You never told us about Roy, Caeda."

Caeda's eyes shot up at Samus. They widened as her pupils dilated at a fast rate. She looked around as if to find a way to lie about this. But she quickly realized that lying would have only made her look worse in the grand scheme of things. She mustered up whatever courage she had and nodded.

"Fine, it's true; I had an affair. But that doesn't mean I killed my husband, Agent. We had our issues, okay? Every couple does at one point."

"That's true," Samus mused, "but it looks bad for you. Now the rest of the SBI and I are here wondering if you lied about anything else."

"I didn't I swear!" Caeda cried. "I didn't lie, I promise!"

"Why should I believe you?"

"Well…I…"

Samus clucked her tongue. "Is there anything else you didn't tell me before that I need to know? Or do you need to come clean about something you said last time?"

" _No_. I didn't tell you about my affair because I know once the media finds out, they won't want to talk about Marth's murder. All they're gonna want to talk about is what a whore I am. Think what you want, but I still cared about my husband. Roy was just my lover- I never loved him, and he didn't love me. All I want is for you to find my husband's killer."

"We will, I promise. Now, I'm going to ask you once more; is there anything you need to come clean about?"

Caeda hesitated, but she replied anyways.

"This may sound bad, but…for the last little while, I had a feeling that Marth was also having an affair. He had a larger increase in 'conferences' that I wasn't allowed to come to. It was all so suspicious because when he did have a conference, I was usually welcomed to join him. I asked him once if there was someone else, but he denied it. I never got any proof, though, so I felt like I had to believe him."

Samus scribbled everything down.

"You must think I'm an awful person," Caeda added.

"I don't," Samus replied. "The man that killed your husband is far worse than you ever could be. My opinion of you doesn't matter, okay? What matters is finding justice for you, and for President Marth. Do you understand?"

"Yes, I do. Thank you, Agent."

* * *

Roy grimaced at Shulk's statement. He chuckled for a moment before speaking.

"What are you talking about?"

"Don't lie to me," Shulk snapped. "We have phone records that showed a frequent amount of calls between you two. We also interviewed a private investigator hired by the President to see if his wife was cheating. He told us that he spotted the First Lady with a red-headed man at multiple hotels. He identified you when he saw your photo."

Now Roy was speechless. He set his coffee down to rest his head in his hands. His fingers moved up to his hairline before he suddenly threw them down. An exasperated expression was evident on his face.

"You win! I slept with her a few times, okay?! I know it's wrong, but Caeda started it! We've known each other before she married Marth. We never dated before, but I always felt something for her."

"Do you love her?"

"I don't know. But I do care about her and her feelings. She called me months ago, crying because she and Marth had had a massive fight. I don't remember what it was over, but I'm pretty sure it was petty and stupid. So I invited Caeda to my place, and she came. While I was comforting her, she made some comment about not having been intimate with Marth for months. I tried telling her that I was sorry, but she suddenly kissed me."

"And that was the first time you two had sex?"

Roy reluctantly nodded. "Yeah, it was. I know how this looks, Agent; believe me, I do. But I swear I didn't kill Marth. I didn't like him, but I would never hurt him. Caeda told me that she still loved him."

"Did that make you jealous?"

"Yeah, of course. But I couldn't justify hitting the guy, let alone killing him. Caeda would've lost it on me. All I want is her to be happy- that's it. If that meant sleeping with me while loving another man, then so be it. I didn't kill the President. I told you, I was at work. Ask my boss if you don't believe me, Agent."

"I intend to," Shulk said before exiting the interrogation room.

* * *

 **There you go! I hope you all enjoyed it. :)**

 **Review Responses:**

 ** _Shana Hager_ : Well...you'll just have to read on to find out! :D**

 ** _ALittleBirdSaid_ : Yay, I'm so happy you're still enjoying it! Don't worry; there's still a bunch of shit that's going to go down.**

 **Please review, and don't forget to stay tuned for chapter eight! :D**

 _\- Elizabeth_


	9. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing that's owned by Nintendo.**

 **Please read & enjoy! :D**

* * *

After finishing his interview with Roy, Shulk was asked to accompany Snake to the crime scene. Having not yet been there, Shulk happily accepted. He needed a chance to see where the President had been shot. It looked as though his would be his only chance of doing so, and he was rather excited. Even though he would mostly spend his time canvassing, he wanted to observe the crime scene in person instead of from photos.

"What are we looking for?"

Snake shrugged. "I'm not too sure myself. I think Ike wants us here just to keep appearances."

"How do you mean?" Shulk asked.

"The media's getting anxious. They want answers, and we need to give some. But they also need to see us out working in the field. We could be called lazy, or worse. See? There's someone over there."

Shulk swung his head around to see a green-haired woman in a long, flowing gown talking into a camera. She also had a cameraman and a mic person- a white-winged angel and a black-winged angel respectively- with her as well. They seemed to be unaware that they were now being watched by the same people they were probably talking about.

"Just ignore 'em," Snake said. "They're not worth our time."

"True," Shulk mused, "but it's kind of annoying."

"Get used to it, kid."

"Oh, I'm used to it. I just don't like it."

Snake's chuckle was dry. "Yeah, me neither."

The agents paraded about the street, knocking on one door after the other. Many who answered had no new information to offer on the President's assassination. Some didn't even want to speak to the agents at all. But a fair number of knocks on doors led to no answer. The sound of silence behind the thick wood was as disheartening as learning that there was no information. After several hours of knocking on doors and getting closer to nowhere, Shulk and Snake retreated to the sidewalk to compare notes.

"Got anything?"

Shulk shook his head. "You?"

"Nothing."

"Looks like we've hit another dead end."

Snake scowled. He hated that people couldn't or wouldn't help in the investigation. He understood why this was, but that didn't make it less frustrating. The SBI still had no solid leads on finding the son of a bitch that had cowardly killed President Marth. Time worked against them; the more time they had to spend finding the killer, the more time he had to get out of Smashville, and away from his despicable crime.

A split second glance away from a nearby garbage bin gave Snake an idea. He approached it before taking a peek inside.

"What are you doing?" a puzzled Shulk asked.

"Looking for evidence."

"In a trash can?"

Snake looked up with a puzzled expression. "The law says that anything in the garbage is free game. If we find anything resembling evidence, it's ours to take. Besides, we're a little desperate."

He dove back into garbage while Shulk watched on. He didn't know whether to feel disgusted or happy that his colleague would go to such a great length to find some evidence against the killer. He was even beginning to think that this was a waste of time.

That all changed when Snake pulled out a black handgun.

"Well, look what we have here," he muttered as he grinned wide.

Shulk didn't waste time putting on gloves of his own and packing the gun away in a spare evidence bag.

"Do you have more of those?" Snake asked.

"Evidence bags? Yeah, I do. Why?"

"There's a few more things I found."

Snake pulled out a set of used latex gloves, and a pair of brown leather gloves. The latter pair looked quite new, so it was strange to see them discarded with actual trash. Shulk bagged everything up and labelled them accordingly.

"They could be nothing, or everything," he said.

"Exactly," Snake replied. "We need to rush them to the Crime Unit so they can be processed."

"Let's go. We can't wait any longer. Oh, and I'm sorry for doubting you."

"Don't sweat it, kid. I know you're not new, but you still have a hell of a lot to learn about being an SBI Agent. Watch and learn, and you'll be fine."

Shulk laughed. "Thanks, Snake. I'll call Ike to tell him this!"

* * *

Ike got off the phone with Shulk feeling confident. The sudden discovery of a possible murder weapon, and gloves used by the suspect had him believing that maybe this murder would be solved sooner then expected. He didn't want to get his hopes up too soon- he'd been burnt that way a few times before, and he didn't need to deal with that again. But just knowing that something had been found instead of nothing had him anticipating something good to come out of all this.

Lucina burst into the conference room, ramming her hip into the door in the process. She rubbed the spot that would certainly form a large bruise, but she didn't slow down until she reached Ike.

"Are you alright?" he asked

Lucina ignored his question. "We've had a news leak."

"On what?"

"Caeda and Roy's affair. Everyone on the news is talking about it."

Ike's eyes darkened. "Turn the TV on."

A moment later, the TV situated on a filing cabinet was on for all to see. The rest of the SBI- including Snake and Shulk- came in just as a flashy red _Breaking News_ graphic filled the screen.

"We're back on _Magnus 365_ with the breaking news that Caeda- the First Lady and widow of President Marth- has been having an affair with another man for quite some time. This has been confirmed by multiple news outlets after the First Lady was spotted leaving SBI headquarters hand-in-hand with another man. Some confidential sources revealed that they are, in fact, a couple."

Groans filled the room when the burly news anchor spoke.

"Why couldn't they keep their hands to themselves?" Samus muttered angrily.

Robin stifled a giggle. "This is so bad, it's almost amusing. _Almost_."

Lucina changed the channel to SBC News. They were just wrapping up their coverage on the subject.

"It's unclear how long the affair has gone on for, but one thing's for sure: SBC will cover it. Palutena, SBC News, Smashville."

As the news anchor went on to talk about the President & the First Lady's relationship, silence filled the large conference room.

"Do we have to see what Smash & Fox are saying about us?" Shulk asked. "It seems like a bad idea."

Ike shook his head. "I want to hear what they have to say."

Once again, Lucina changed the channel. Smash & Fox News had managed to get their beautiful blonde-haired commentator to interview the official Opposition Leader on the matter.

"King DeDeDe, does the news of the First Lady having an affair surprise you at all?" the commentator asked.

"No, it doesn't," King DeDeDe replied. "To be honest, Peach, I never really liked Caeda. It's not about politics because she's not a politician- she was a politician's wife. I didn't like the First Lady because she seemed like she didn't like Marth."

"Yeah, I never cared for her for that reason, either," Peach remarked.

Ike swiped the TV remote so he could shut the TV off. Lucina suddenly entered the room again- she had left to take a phone call, and had missed Smash & Fox News' coverage as a result- with a calm demeanour.

"That was the President's Secretary, Corrina. She just released a statement on the matter exclusively to SNN," Lucina explained.

"What did she say?" Ike asked. "I'd rather hear it from you instead of the news."

"'We are aware of the matter regarding First Lady Caeda. We will not comment on the issue for an undisclosed length of time, out of respect for our late President. We ask that you respect our privacy during this difficult time. Thank you.' It's fitting, in my opinion."

"They want people to focus on the assassination, not Caeda's affair," Robin said. "Smart move."

"It won't work," Snake added. "The media's going to gossip about the affair worse than a pack of high school mean girls. This is gonna turn into one massive clusterfuck that won't focus on the assassination at all. Why? Because the President's wife sleeping with someone else is more interesting than the President being murdered."

Snake abruptly left the conference room. The sound of a glass vase shattering on the ground echoed just outside the room, followed by another door slamming shut.

"Don't follow him out," Ike said. "It's not worth it. He'll be back in a few minutes."

"So what do _we_ do?" Lucina suddenly asked. "My phone's already been bombarded with calls from each TV news station. Even a few newspapers have called!"

"People still read newspapers?" Robin wondered out loud.

"This is news to me," Rob added with a chuckle.

Ike ignored the Tech Analysts. "No comment. That's what you keep saying. I don't give a damn if they don't like it. You keep saying that until they get the message- that the SBI doesn't care about the affair. We're trying to find a killer; we have something bigger to deal with."

"I am curious about how the killer feels about this," Shulk mused. "Think about it: the assassination is being forgotten to cover a sex scandal. He probably wasn't expecting that to happen."

"It's anyone's guess," Ike said.

* * *

"Welcome to _Yesterday's News Today_! My name's Whitman, and holy SHIT, we have so much to talk about!"

He's excited to watch today's episode of his favourite show. After the somber, almost depressing episode from yesterday, he needs to know how Whitman's going to be funny.

"I know we should talk about yesterday's assassination on President Marth. And I had every intention to. Until…I don't know, like 20 minutes ago?"

 _Wait, wait, wait, WHAT?_

"Why? Well…this happened earlier today!"

A short clip from SBC News revealing the First Lady's affair played. He watches it with his mouth wide open. He had no idea that in the span of 24 hours, the media had managed to turn the attention of his crime to something that had nothing to do with it.

Just as the clip ended, he shuts the TV off. He doesn't know what Whitman's going to say, but he doesn't give a flying fuck about them anymore. All he knows is that he isn't going to like it. He wasn't about to listen to dumb jokes about a dumb affair that he doesn't care about.

 _FUCK YOU, MOTHERFUCKER._

Well, so much for watching TV tonight.

* * *

 **There you go! I hope you all enjoyed it. :)**

 **Review Responses:**

 ** _Shana Hager_ : Oh, don't feel too bad for Caeda. You may not feel the same way about her later. That's all I'm gonna say.**

 ** _ALittleBirdSaid_ : Is it wrong that I don't feel bad for her? As for Roy...think what you will about him. :) Thank you for the review!**

 ** _Jack_ : Thank you! To answer your question, no, their individual abilities are not used. I apologize if you thought otherwise, but that's not the case here. I only call male Robin Rob so that he won't be confused with female Robin. I like doing stuff from the antagonist's point of view just so readers can understand them. Anyways, I'm so happy you're enjoying this fanfic!**

 ** _Bluefoot_ : YAY! Thank you so much for being so kind! I hope you continue to enjoy it. :)**

 **Please review, and don't forget to stay tuned for chapter 9! :D**

 _\- Elizabeth_


	10. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: I own nothing related to Nintendo.**

 **Please read & review! :D**

* * *

"This is all your fault!"

"How is it all MY fault?! You're a part of this mess, Roy!"

"You think I want to be?!"

"It was your idea to start the affair all that time ago!"

"BULLSHIT!"

For a moment, silence passed. Caeda and Roy had been arguing about their relationship for so long that they were running out of insults. Caeda had argued that Roy had no right to meddle with her life. Meanwhile, Roy insisted that she had created this disaster in the first place. Neither side would admit that this was their fault.

"The media knows about us!" Caeda cried. "They're calling me a slut! A _slut_! They won't focus on Marth's death!"

"Gee, I can't imagine why," Roy remarked. "It's not like the President's wife is sleeping with some random guy just before he DIED."

"I KNOW HOW IT LOOKS. I'm not clueless!"

"Are you sure about that?"

Caeda responded by slapping him across the face as hard as she could. Roy stumbled backwards, tripping over his two feet. He stepped the wrong way and fell on the ground. He quickly got up with a newfound fire in his eyes.

"You've ruined my life. You've ruined my Goddamn _life_! I won't be able to go to work, go to the grocery store, or fucking go _anywhere_ without someone yelling at me for being with your cheating ass! Don't you see what you've DONE TO ME?! TO MY LIFE?! MY REPUTATION?!"

Roy grabbed a glass vase and threw it to the ground. It shattered, sending thousands of glass shards in different directions. Caeda jumped to avoid stepping on the sharp shrapnel.

"Can you please keep it down? Please?" she asked.

"NO! No, I'm NOT going to keep it down! Actually…on second thought…"

Roy grabbed his coat and threw it on.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm leaving."

"Where?"

"Out of this damn place."

Roy managed to leave Caeda's room with ease. But when he got to the Front Room, Caeda had caught up with him. She grabbed his wrist and held on tight.

"Let go."

"NO!"

"I'm serious, Caeda."

Caeda kept a death grip on Roy's wrist. "So am I!"

"You're being delusional."

"I'll kill myself if you leave!"

Roy scoffed. "Don't talk like that."

He removed her hand from him, taking note of the nail marks that decorated his skin. He shook his head in disbelief before rushing out of the Front Room.

"WAIT!" Caeda exclaimed.

But her plea had gone unheard; Roy didn't even acknowledge it. He darted to his car under the cover of night, and drove off as quickly as he could. Tears streamed down Caeda's cheeks as she saw his taillights grow dimmer from her sight. Once she couldn't see his car anymore, she began to retreat to her room.

"I see you're quite upset."

Caeda looked around for whoever had spoken. She hadn't expected to see Corrin, the House Speaker, standing in the entrance of his office. It was only a couple feet from the Front Room of the President's House.

At his words, Caeda nodded. "It's been a rough day."

"I should feel bad for you, considering everything you've been through," Corrin mused.

"Thank you- wait. Did you say, 'I _should_ feel bad for you,'? Why would you say that?"

"Because I _don't_ feel bad for you. It's hard to feel sympathy for someone who's been cheating on their husband."

"Oh, please don't do this. I don't need more people telling me what I did wrong. I'm sorry, okay? Is that better?"

"Don't apologize to me. You should've apologized to Marth when he was alive. But it's too late for that now."

Corrin returned to his office, unable to look the First Lady in the eye any longer. Once he heard that Caeda had gone to her room, he returned to the Front Room. He saw the President's Head of Security, Meta Knight, standing there. It was hard to tell what sort of mood he was in.

"Did you hear any of that?" Corrin asked.

Meta Knight nodded.

"It's ridiculous," Corrin added. "I'm surprised this didn't come out sooner."

"I'm not," Meta Knight replied. "Humans have a fascinating way of hiding their darkest secrets from those closest to them. They've done it since the beginning of time; or at least, it seems like it."

 _What an insightful view,_ Corrin thought. _Though I suppose it's not inaccurate._

* * *

 _BANG!_

 _BANG!_

 _BANG!_

Samus relaxed her stance and removed the large headphones off her head. She'd offered to do ballistics testing on the gun Snake had found after the Crime Unit admitted that they were too swamped to do DNA testing _and_ ballistics. So Samus was in a large empty room, firing bullets into water to compare them to bullets from the President's body. It was a lonely, mind numbing job, but it was absolutely necessary to find the killer.

So she pulled the fired bullets from the water tank, and put one under a microscope. Another microscope with a bullet from the murder sat close beside it, ready to be examined. She began her examination of both bullets, all while hoping that she would get a match. She received her answer a few minutes later.

"It's a perfect match."

Excited, Samus grabbed the gun she'd used during her test firing. It wasn't just a gun anymore; it was the murder weapon. The black .357 Magnum revolver in her hand had played a crucial role in President Marth's assassination. Having that confirmed meant that the SBI was making some progress in the case, and that was the most important part of this.

She looked for a serial number, but couldn't find it. This didn't make sense because every gun had a serial number to track it back to its owner. But the issue made sense when she suddenly felt a smooth spot near the trigger. Upon closer inspection, Samus realized that the serial number once existed on the handgun. But someone had managed to file it off long ago so it couldn't be seen. This meant that tracing the gun to the original owner would be impossible.

"Damn you!" Samus muttered. "You may have a leg up now, but don't get too comfortable. We're gonna get you. Mark my words, you little murderous fucker."

* * *

 **There you go! I hope you all enjoyed it. :)**

 **Review Responses:**

 ** _Shana Hager_ : Oh, believe me: there are many more characters to come! And yes: poor Snake indeed.**

 ** _ALittleBirdSaid_ : I like writing from the point of view of the antagonist so the reader can understand their fucked up mind. I like reading that, so I like writing it, too. Oh my God, you're way too nice. Thank you so much!**

 ** _pichuplayer_ : LOL, thanks...I think?**

 ** _Jack_ : I'm glad I cleared things up. I prefer writing serious fanfics...I don't know why. It would make the fanfic more interesting, but yeah, it'd be way too easy.**

 **Please review, and don't forget to stay tuned for chapter 10! :D**

 _\- Elizabeth_


	11. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer: I own nothing related to Nintendo.**

 **Please read & enjoy! :D**

* * *

 _Yesterday's News Today?_

Nope. It isn't on during the weekend.

SNN?

Nope. Some leader in another country is raising hell.

SBC News?

Nope. They were too focused on an exclusive item about the stock market.

Smash & Fox News?

Nope. They're too busy whining about how liberal Smashville's becoming.

He shuts the TV off and looks around the living room. A copy of the local newspaper, _The Smash Post_ , sits at arm's length. He grabs it and skims it for something- anything, really. But just like on TV, print news has neglected to discuss President Marth's assassination. Hell, they've even grown tired of talking about Caeda's fucking affair. After the SBI refused to say a peep about it, the news must've given up and decided to focus their attention on other shit. Gossip is interesting, but it's only interesting until the same gossip is repeated over and over and over again.

But back to the assassination.

Why won't the media talk about it? Was the assassination boring to them now? The murder of Smashville's current President was BORING? How?!

 _What else do I need to do to get their fucking attention?!_

Despite panicking, he doesn't let his emotions control his body. Instead, he sets the newspaper down and heads off to bed. He has to get enough sleep before waking up for his six AM shift at the factory. As much as he despises his dead-end job, it's the only thing keeping him relatively normal.

But maybe things will change. Maybe the SBI will let something slip, and the media will talk about it nonstop. That was inevitable; after all, the killer- yes, _him_ \- was still on the loose.

He misses the media attention that killing the President brought. Hopefully, it comes back sooner than later.

* * *

It was close to one in the morning that Monday. Most people in Smashville were fast asleep, trying to rest up before they had to wake up early to get ready for school or work. The city as a whole was relatively peaceful.

There was one exception, though.

The President's House, situated in the middle of the sprawling city, was not as quiet as it seemed. Most everyone had retired to their room for the night to also rest for the coming morning. But one person was still wide awake.

"This is pathetic, Caeda…"

Caeda bit her lip to stop similar words from escaping her. But it wasn't easy, given how awful she felt. Add in far too many glasses of wine for anyone her age, and Caeda felt more disgusting than she probably looked. That was a feat; her outfit had wrinkles, her hair was messy, and her mascara had left dried streaks on her cheeks. She didn't need a mirror to see what she currently looked like. It was far from a pretty sight.

She clutched her cell phone in one hand, and an empty wine glass in the other. Or rather, it did have an empty wine glass in it. It slipped out and landed near her sprawled out leg. It didn't shatter, but it did crack ever so slightly. But Caeda didn't notice. She brought the phone close and dialled a number she'd memorized a long time ago.

One ring. Two rings. Three rings. Four rings. Five rings.

And then…

"Hey, it's Roy. I'll call you back as soon as I can! Just leave a message at the beep, please."

 _Beep._

Caeda bit her lip. This was the four or fifth fucking time she'd gotten Roy's voicemail. He wasn't answering his Goddamn phone! Sure, maybe he was sleeping…but _still_. Caeda wasn't too impressed that he was basically stonewalling her.

"ROY? Please…PLEASE pick up. I love you so, so, so, SO much… We belong together. I love you, baby. I…I l-love you, Roy. Call me… _please_."

She hung up before tossing her phone to the side. She rested her head on the adjacent wall before a fresh batch of tears trickled down her cheeks. Tear after tear left a wet mark on her fair skin, mixing with smudged mascara to make her look worse. She tried to wipe them away, but it seemed to make it worse.

 _Damn it, damn it, damn it! Why is this happening to me?_

Caeda stopped her weeping to collect herself. The sound of low murmurs piqued her interest. She steadied herself on her feet and walked to her bedroom door. She opened it just enough to amplify the sounds she had heard. It took a little while, but she soon heard two familiar voices talking in hushed tones.

"I can't believe Caeda was havin' an affair. I thought she and Marth loved each other?"

"Oh c'mon, Fox! Their marriage died a long time ago. Er, if you know what I mean."

"But Falco, didn't you see how they treated each other? They really loved each other."

"They were pretty good actors."

"You're so negative, Falco."

"Am I wrong?"

Fox didn't reply.

"See?" Falco pointed out. "Told you."

This was too much for Caeda to handle. She slowly shut the door and sat on her bed. A small creature plopped down beside her, nudging her rib cage. It startled her, until she realized who was responsible.

"Hi, Pikachu."

The creature nudged her ribs again, forcing Caeda to open her arms up. Pikachu jumped inside, and Caeda was all too happy to hug the happy Pokémon.

"At least you're here to comfort me. Please don't ever leave me."

Pikachu nuzzled her chest, making Caeda smile. It soon managed to lull her to sleep, much to her relief.

* * *

 **There you go! I hope you all enjoyed it. :)**

 **Review Responses:**

 ** _Shana Hager_ : Yes, those that work at the President's House know! What will happen? Well...hopefully, this chapter gave you some answers.**

 ** _pichuplayer_ : LMAO it's okay! You're gonna put it on a list for YouTube? Please let me know when you do! Just tell me your username there, and I'll find it! Thank you! I'm happy you're enjoying it! :)**

 ** _ALittleBirdSaid_ : Thank you, thank you, thank you! LOL Corrin doesn't give a damn about Caeda anymore!I loved writing that part. XD I'm glad you liked it!**

 ** _hi_ (chapter 1): I don't know what to say. I'd thank you for the compliment, but saying, "Go Kill Yourself" afterwards (which IS what that means, according to the Internet) is fucking pointless. That's quite rude, you know. Why would you say that? Please refrain from posting such hurtful things, please.**

 **Please review, and don't forget to stay tuned for chapter 11!**

 _\- Elizabeth_


	12. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer: I own nothing by Nintendo.**

 **Please read & enjoy! :D**

* * *

A phone call at four o'clock in the morning wasn't something Ike had expected come Monday morning. But his cell phone rang loud and clear earlier than he anticipated, forcing him to grab it as fast as he could. When he saw who it was, he sat up in order to pay full attention to the call.

"Hello, Winnie."

"Hello, Ike. I apologize for calling you at this hour."

Ike used his other hand to rub his face. "It's fine. What is it?"

"Well," Winnie said, "I have good news and bad news. The good news is that I managed to create a solid DNA profile using trace evidence from the leather gloves and latex gloves."

"That's great. What's the bad news?"

"I put the DNA profile in our local database, and came up with no matches."

"Damn it."

"I know, it's frustrating," Winnie replied. "I'm sorry if I got your hopes up."

"You don't need to apologize," Ike said. "I appreciate you calling. Could you please email me a copy of the DNA profile? I can have something run a larger search on matches. Maybe we'll find a match."

"Great idea! I'll do it as soon as I hang up. Oh, and Sir?"

"Yes?"

"There's one more thing you should know."

"What is it?"

"The right leather glove tested positive for gunshot residue. The suspect's right-handed."

"Thanks, Winnie. I appreciate your help."

"You're welcome, Sir. I hope we talk again soon."

The two said their goodbyes before hanging up. Ike then texted Robin about the finding. He didn't bother waiting for a response; he figured she would be sound asleep at this time. So he added another text about not rushing to look for a DNA match. After all, a tired Tech Analyst would do both him and the rest of the team no good. He needed her well-rested, and ready to work.

* * *

Robin entered her office to find Rob already booting up the computers. He must've sensed her presence because he turned to look at her.

"Good morning."

"Good morning."

Still apprehensive, Robin took her seat to begin finding a match on the DNA profile.

"What are you doing?" Rob asked.

"The Crime Unit found a DNA profile on some gloves. They couldn't find a match in their local database, so I'm casting a large net."

It took several minutes, but eventually, the Tech Analysts found out the results. Unfortunately for them and the rest of the SBI, there was no match.

"Damn it!" Robin exclaimed.

"That means this guy's never been arrested before," Rob remarked.

"Correct. I'm surprised by that."

"I'm not. Some people who do such high-profile crimes have no criminal record, no history of violence…nothing to make them suspicious."

Robin mused this. "Yeah, that does make sense. I'll call Ike to deliver the bad news."

That didn't bring up the SBI's moral. Ike scowled when he learned the results, and the others groaned or sighed. Robin felt bad for having to deliver such depressing news, but it was necessary.

"Damn it," Ike grumbled. "Well, now we don't have much."

"At least we have a DNA profile to compare to anyone we arrest," Robin replied.

Rob stifled an amused laugh. "That's true, but it doesn't bring us closer to finding the killer."

"Rob's right," Ike said. "Maybe go back and see if you can find something in the President's past. A second look couldn't hurt. Is that alright?"

"Yeah," Robin answered. "Rob and I will do that now. Thank you, Sir."

After hanging up, Robin began doing some digging. But Rob merely gave her an odd look. She didn't notice until the feeling of someone staring began to get to her. She looked over, annoyed.

"Do you need something?"

"I need to apologize."

Robin smirked. "Really. You're apologizing now? It's been two days since our fight. I just want to forget about it."

"You deserve an apology, though. And an explanation."

"An explanation?"

Rob nodded. "I know what I said was wrong, but my reasoning for it is personal."

"How do you mean?"

"Well…I just got out of a relationship from a woman in my world. She cheated on me with someone else."

Robin's eyes went wide. "Gods…I'm so sorry."

"Don't say you're sorry," Rob said. "It wasn't your fault. I still don't know why she cheated on me. She just admitted that she did it, without any sadness or remorse. It still haunts me. It happened months ago, but it still bothers me."

"It's still awful, and I feel so bad for you."

"Thanks, I guess. What I'm trying to say is that I'm sorry for what I said. It's not like me to normally say such things."

"I accept your apology," Robin replied with a small grin.

Rob returned her grin. "Thank you. Now, should we get back to work?"

"Yes, I think so," Robin remarked.

Just then, a small fluffy pink creature popped up from out of nowhere. Rob nearly had a heart attack, but Robin burst out laughing.

"Oh, that's Jigglypuff," she said. "She's my pet. You can pet her, if you wish."

Rob did for a moment, until the Pokémon decided to hop off Robin's lap, and for a small corner in the office. It yawned, and then fell into a deep slumber.

After laughing over it, the two began skimming through different records that tracked the President's activities. Robin read through phone records again, while Rob dug through emails. After almost an hour of this, Rob finally found something intriguing.

"The President's official email came up clean," he said, " _but_ I found something interesting."

"What is it?" Robin asked.

"He emailed himself an important document to look at. The document isn't important- it's just a speech on immigration- but the other email is. It's from a public email domain."

Rob typed _Marth4Ever_ into the computer, and had access within minutes. The inbox was filled with mostly conversations between employees from the President's House about movies, TV shows, music, and other stuff that wasn't serious or important. But another email address piqued Rob's attention. It was _Bay29_ , with a profile picture of a beautiful woman. The problem was that the beautiful woman wasn't Caeda, or anyone else he or Robin recognized.

"No way," she muttered.

Rob only had to read through one email full of passion, innuendos, and suggestive material for him and Robin to see what was going on here.

"Seems like the First Lady wasn't the only one having an affair," Rob remarked.

"You got that right," Robin said. "I'll call Ike to tell him what we found."

* * *

 **There you go! I hope you all enjoyed it. :)**

 **Review Responses:**

 ** _SeththeGreat_ : Exactly! The news is totally like that, regardless of what country you live in. It's like this in Canada, and I know it's like this in the United States. Oh my God, I totally remember the missing plane & CNN's obsession with covering it 24/7! I think even Jon Stewart made fun of it on _The Daily Show_. You're right- Caeda brought this shit on herself. I don't feel bad for her either. To answer your question, Marth does NOT have a vice-president. I was going to make it Roy, but it was too easy to make him Caeda's lover instead. After that, I couldn't decide who to make the VP, so I decided not to have one.**

 ** _Shana Hager_ : Thanks! Fox & Falco have such good chemistry that an exchange between them is almost necessary.**

 ** _pichuplayer_ : I've subscribed to your channel- my YouTube channel is _Elizabeth Ellie_ , in case you're wondering. I'm looking forward to seeing your video on it!**

 ** _Guest_ : Correct! He's the host of the fake news/satricial show Yesterday's News Today.**

 ** _ALittleBirdSaid_ : Thank you! And thank you for pointing out my error, I did fix it! I'm sometimes not as thorough as I wish. But I digress. I'm so happy that you enjoyed that chapter!**

 **Please review, and don't forget to stay tuned for chapter 12! :D**

 _\- Elizabeth_


	13. Chapter 12

**Full disclosure: I own nothing by Nintedo.**

 **Please read & enjoy! :D**

* * *

"Lucina, are you sure you're ready for this?"

"I am, Ike. We cannot put this off further. You and I know that despite not letting it on, the media is anxious to hear of any developments in the President's assassination."

"I suppose that's true. Well, let's not keep them waiting any longer. You're certain you don't want me joining you out there?"

Lucina nodded. "I appreciate the offer, but I must decline. I want to do this alone. If things get out of hand though, I trust you'll come to my aid?"

"Of course. I'll see you later."

After exchanging goodbyes, the two SBI agents departed to different destinations. Ike went to a conference room to watch the press conference, while Lucina went to deliver said press conference. It was mainly to bring both the public and the media up to speed on the investigation, as well as a chance to answer the media's questions. Even though they hadn't discussed the assassination since Caeda's affair had come out, Lucina knew they still ached to hear what the SBI knew since her initial statement.

With her script in hand, she arrived just outside of SBI headquarters to a large crowd of cameras, microphones, and pushy media personalities. The crowd was bigger than Lucina had anticipated, but it didn't unnerve her. She cleared her throat and waited for their annoying chatter to die down.

"The SBI has received information that has helped greatly in the investigation of President Marth's assassination. Evidence has been found as well to support our case against the suspect. We continue to work tirelessly to find the person responsible for this heinous act. The public has been helpful in our investigation, and the SBI is extremely grateful for the assistance."

Sure, that last part was pure bullshit. But it made the community of Smashville look better, like it cared about what had happened.

"I will answer a few questions. Whoever I select can only ask one question- no exceptions."

Immediately after Lucina finished speaking, multiple hands shot up from the crowd. Each one shouted her name in a feeble attempt to be selected to ask whatever burning question they had. Lucina considered her choice carefully before she picked someone.

"Palutena, from SBC News. What kind of evidence has been found?"

"The SBI does not wish to reveal what exactly was found," Lucina answered, "but I can tell you that with that evidence, we have created a DNA profile to compare to a suspect."

Hands went up again, though it had decreased from the previous time. Lucina chose another news outlet.

"Magnus, SNN. What kind of individual do you think committed this crime?"

Lucina thought for a moment before replying. "The suspect isn't someone that could be easily identified as a criminal. He blends in with the rest of society, most likely with a quiet disposition. He has no criminal record, and most likely no history of violence, too. He's very hard to pick out from a crowd because he doesn't want to get caught. But we believe that he wants to be known for something big, like committing an assassination. We believe he hasn't turned himself in because he _wants_ the SBI to find him.

"I'll take one more question."

A few news outlets raised their hands and shouted Lucina's name. As much as she didn't want to, she chose the one news organization that would twist whatever she said the most.

"Peach from Smash & Fox News. So has the SBI has no leads as of right now?"

 _You can't be serious,_ Lucina thought angrily. She had a feeling the right-wing, we-want-to-see-you-fail-so-we-can-talk-about-it-forever news network Smash  & Fox News would present it as legitimate news. Despite her feelings, Lucina swallowed hard to prepare to answer such an asinine question.

"The SBI is working on every lead we currently have. We are working our hardest to bring the killer to justice, and we refuse to rest until we catch him."

"So-"

But Lucina wasn't having it. "That's all the time we have for questions. Thank you."

The media tried to get to Lucina, but she managed to sneak into SBI Headquarters quickly. A couple armed agents stood guard, meaning that the media had no way of getting in the building.

Away from the insane media, Lucina darted to the conference room that Ike had watched everything occur.

"Gods, that last question was horrible. I'm so sorry if my answer was inadequate."

"You did great," Ike insisted. "Smash & Fox are good at creating difficult questions to answer. You're fine; they're not. I'm more worried about how they'll twist your words against you, and us."

Lucina nodded. "Ike…"

"Please, don't worry over it, Lucina. Besides, we still have a killer on the loose- and we need to find him."

* * *

With help from the Robins, the SBI had learned that, like Marth had done to his unfaithful wife, Caeda had hired a private investigator to track his whereabouts. As President, it wasn't as easy for him to sneak about Smashville; the SSIS usually accompanied him everywhere for his protection. But they had insisted that they knew nothing about his affair. It was then determined that he had snuck out in the dead of night to have sex with his mistress.

"He really went out of his way to see her," Samus mused.

Sheik, the private investigator hired by Caeda, nodded. "It seems as though he loved her instead of his wife."

"When did the First Lady hire you?"

"About four months ago. She was convinced that the President' wasn't faithful, but she couldn't find any proof of it. She thought I could find the proof she'd been looking for."

Samus raised her eyebrows. "It sounds like you found it. Did you show her?"

"I did when she let me go."

"And when did that occur?"

"About a month after she hired me," Sheik revealed. "She didn't tell me why she no longer needed my services. She just paid me for my time, and then said that she didn't need me anymore. I took the money and made a note to not help her if she called me again."

"Did she call you again?" Samus asked.

Sheik shook her head. "I wasn't sure if she would, but I looked out for it. After Marth died…I deleted her number from my phone. I knew she wasn't going to contact me again."

"Makes sense."

"And you know what? As much as I despise him for what he did to his wife…I'm still sad that President Marth was killed. He may have been an awful husband, but he didn't deserve to die that way. _No one_ does."

"You're right," Samus said. "I'll be right back, alright? You'll be able to go home in a few minutes."

Sheik nodded before Samus exited the interrogation room. She went to the viewing room, where Ike and Lucina stood.

"I believe her," she said confidently.

"I do, too," Lucina added. "It's not like she'd gain anything from lying to us."

"I agree with you both," Ike replied. "I'm still curious if Marth's affair played a part in his death. Samus, have Sheik hand over everything she found on him and his mistress. It won't be much, but something is still better than nothing."

"Sure thing," Samus said.

She returned to the interrogation room, leaving Ike and Lucina alone. Ike was about to speak when his phone cut him off. He was rather puzzled by who was calling him.

"I need to take this. Excuse me."

Ike darted out of the viewing room for his office. He shut the door and answered.

"Chief Ike."

"Ike, it's Bowser."

"So I saw. I haven't heard from you in a long time. I was beginning to think you gave up being an informant."

Bowser snorted. "It's not my fault the streets have been quiet. I haven't had to burn anyone for a while."

"Ahh, now it all makes sense. So, why are you calling?"

"Well, I met a girl at a club just a couple days ago. We got to talking, and then she said something about sleeping with the President. I thought it was BS, until she went into detail about his body. She also talked about where they had sex. I don't think she was making it up."

Ike dug around his office, and found a note pad and pen. "Do you remember her name?"

"Bayonetta. She's a bartender at Club Smash. I also know where she lives."

"And how do you know that?"

"She told me, I guess because she thought I wanted to go home with her. I didn't because c'mon…she slept with the President! I can't top that. Besides, human girls aren't my taste."

That last remark made Ike smirk. "What's her address?"

"120 Animal Crossing Drive. It's close to downtown Smashville."

"Thank you for your help, Bowser. I appreciate it."

"No problem. I figure my helping you might benefit me in the future, if I ever get arrested."

"I'm just going to pretend I didn't hear that last part. And again, thank you for your help."

They each said their goodbyes before Ike left his office. What he needed now was to get some of his agents to bring Bayonetta to SBI Headquarters for a talk.

* * *

 **There you go! I hope you all enjoyed it. :)**

 **Review Responses:**

 ** _Shana Hager_ : Nope, Marth had his flaws, too. As for your prediction...we shall see about that.**

 ** _pichuplayer_ : Correct! I know I already said so in the comments, but thank you for placing me on your top ten _Super Smash Bros._ fanfics list! I'm honoured. Also, I'm glad you enjoyed the last chapter!**

 ** _Batnan5_ : A sly dog he was indeed!**

 ** _ALittleBirdSaid_ : YAY! That's honestly one of the best compliments; to be compared to a crime drama TV show. Mostly because they're my favourite kind of shows on the planet. XD I'm glad you like the Robins' banter! A little levity is necessary in a story this bleak, in my opinion. LOL, thanks for seeing if I had any mistakes. You're my unofficial beta reader, LMAO!**

 **Please review, and don't forget to stay tuned for chapter 13! :D**

 _\- Elizabeth_


	14. Chapter 13

**Hey, guys! I just want to let you know (in case I haven't done so here already) that I posted a trailer of sorts about this fanfic. My YouTube channel is linked on my profile, so please check it out, as well as my other videos! :)**

 **Full disclosure: I own nothing by Nintendo.**

 **Please read & enjoy! :D**

* * *

The SBI brought Bayonetta to headquarters as morning turned into afternoon. She didn't protest, though she looked slightly surprised. Despite that, she never asked if she was under arrest, or if she needed a lawyer present. She just went with them in Snake and Ike's SUV to SBI headquarters.

Bayonetta sat in an interrogation alone, finishing off a lollipop. An unattended cup of black coffee stood in front of her. She didn't seem worried or anxious at the current situation. This had the SBI puzzled by her behaviour.

"Do you really think _she_ could kill the President?" Samus asked.

"Remember the saying: 'Anyone is capable of anything given the right set of circumstances'. I wouldn't put it past her," Shulk replied.

"She has motive," Ike noted. "She was having an affair with Marth before he died. He never tried to end his marriage to Caeda, so Bayonetta could've killed him out of anger."

"I doubt that," Samus said. "It'd make more sense if Bayonetta killed Caeda. If she killed the wife, she gets Marth all to herself. Caeda wasn't hurt, and it looks like the killer didn't want to kill her."

"Makes sense," Lucina mused. "Who's going to interview her?"

"I will," Snake piped up.

Ike nodded. "We'll be here."

"Thanks," Snake replied before leaving for the interrogation room.

Bayonetta perked up when he entered. She tossed her lollipop into the trash and kept her eyes on him.

"I'm sorry to keep you waiting, Bayonetta. I'm Senior Supervisory Special Agent Snake."

"Oh, it's okay, darling. I understand you're a busy man. It's nice to meet you, by the way."

Snake raised his eyebrows, amused. "Thank you. So, I'm sure you'd like to know why we brought you here. But before I tell you, maybe you could come up with a reason?"

"Hmm, let me think." Bayonetta paused for a moment. "Is this about the President's assassination?"

"Correct," Snake answered.

"I'm not surprised. It's quite a big deal, and understandably so."

"Do you know specifically why your name came up?"

"Am I to tell you the truth here?"

Snake blinked. "Huh?"

"Oh, I'm just teasing. That was probably inappropriate, but I couldn't help myself. You seem so serious, Agent."

"It comes with the job."

"I suppose so. Anyways, I'll answer the question now, Agent: I was having an affair with President Marth before he died."

"So you _are_ going to be honest," Snake remarked. "I appreciate it."

"Were you testing me, Agent?" Bayonetta asked.

"I was. And before you asked- yes, you passed."

Bayonetta smirked. "Good."

"Now, I'd like to know how you met Marth," Snake said.

"It happened a few months ago. I was working at The Witch's Bar- I'm a bartender- and the President came in with a bunch of friends. They rang up an expensive tab, but they all paid separately. The President order a glass of ice water, and a whiskey on the rocks. His part of the tab totaled to about $7. He left a $500.00 tip, and his phone number on the receipt."

Snake let out a low whistle. "Did you ask about the large tip?"

"Not then," Bayonetta said, "but I did when I called him the next morning. I acted like I was making sure he got home safely. I think he bought it, but I'm not too sure, dear. What I _do_ know is that we talked for almost an hour that day. We just got to know each other; it wasn't anything serious. We learned about each other's favourite food, favourite colour…all that icebreaker bullshit.

"Anyways, he said the big tip was because I did a good job, and that I was beautiful. He then asked if I could meet him at the train station the next day. It's close to the President's House. I went for my own amusement. I didn't think he'd show up."

"But he did."

"He did. We talked for a bit, and then I invited him to my apartment. We had sex for the first time that night. I won't go into detail on that, but it was amazing."

Snake couldn't help but smirk. "How many times do you think you two had sex?"

"It's hard to say when put it like that. Let's just say it was at least once a week…maybe twice, depending on Marth's schedule."

"And did you only have sex at your apartment?"

"Yes. I suggested a motel, but Marth thought that was too risky."

Snake paused to write the information down. Once finished, he gave Bayonetta a serious look.

"What did you think of his wife?"

"The First Lady? I barely thought of her," Bayonetta replied.

"You weren't jealous that she was still married to the President while you slept with him?"

Bayonetta raised her right eyebrow and chuckled. "No, not at all. I don't believe in marriage, to be honest. And besides, I made it clear to Marth that I wasn't interested in a relationship. The word 'love' never came up. We just slept together- that's it."

"You wouldn't call yourself his girlfriend?"

"Nope- his mistress."

"Yeah, 'cause that sounds much better," Snake remarked.

"I don't feel bad about what I did," Bayonetta admitted. "Think what you like, Agent, but I managed to sleep with the President of Smashville. I'm gonna carry that achievement with me to the end of my days."

"So it's safe to say that you didn't kill Marth."

"I could never! Look: I know I'm a…playful person, if you will. But in all seriousness, I was devastated when I found out Marth was killed. I cried the whole day."

Snake was about to call her out for lying, but stopped when he saw tears form in her eyes. Even with her glasses on, it was clear that she held some sort of feelings for Marth. Was it lust? Or was it love? It didn't matter to Snake, or to the investigation.

"I'll be back in a moment, Bayonetta. You'll be able to go home once I get back."

Bayonetta nodded before Snake left the interrogation room. He went inside the viewing room to talk to Ike and company.

"I believe her," he said.

"I do, too," Ike replied. "I even believe that she's upset about the President's murder."

"As I do," Lucina chimed in.

Samus sighed. "As much as I hate her personality…I agree with the rest of you. She didn't kill the President."

"I agree. So now we're back to nothing," Shulk noted. "What now?"

"We have the beginning of a criminal profile," Samus answered. "I think we need to finish it up and release it to the public in time for the six o'clock news."

"I can get us that slot," Lucina added. "That won't be an issue."

"Then let's do it," Ike said. "Snake, please take Bayonetta back to her place. We'll start on the profile in the meantime."

"Sounds like a plan to me," Snake replied.

* * *

The SBI took several hours to craft the perfect suspect profile. It wasn't easy creating something thorough and exact to one single person, but they tried their hardest with the limited amount of evidence they had. That, in addition to Shulk's excellence in criminal psychology, resulted in the SBI having a criminal profile better than what they had expected.

"We'll still keep searching for the suspect in the meantime," Ike insisted to the team. "But releasing a profile may help find him sooner."

Everyone agreed with that logic, and didn't object to it.

Lucina made good on her boast that she could get the team on Smashville's six o'clock news. She even called the major news networks for extra coverage. The more news stations to spread the word, the better that more citizens would know what kind of person would commit such a heinous crime.

She caught a glimpse of the crowd from the safety of SBI headquarters minutes before the broadcast was to begin.

"There's a _lot_ of news stations here," she remarked. "There's some I didn't even call!"

"They probably heard about it through the grapevine," Shulk said. "Each station may not agree or like their peers, but they respect them enough to let them in when something huge is gonna happen."

"I suppose you're right," Lucina replied.

Ike suddenly appeared with the Robins close behind.

"Are you two joining us?" Shulk asked.

"We are!" Robin exclaimed. "I have to admit, I'm kinda excited about it."

"I don't know if I am," Rob confessed. "I'm not a fan of crowds."

"Well, you won't have to do any talking," Ike piped up. "I'll read out the profile."

"I appreciate it," Lucina said. "Is the SBI taking any questions?"

"No. They already had a chance to ask questions; they don't need another."

"Sounds good. Shall we find the others and go outside?"

"Let's."

Once they reunited with Samus and Snake, the team finally went outside to greet the media circus currently going on. They all tried to ask questions, but Ike made gestures to get them quiet. Once the talking disappeared, Ike began to talk.

"We have a criminal profile based on our suspect. He's most likely a man between the ages of 40 to 55. Race is irrelevant, but it's more than possible that he's human. He isn't one to stick out in society; he blends in well, which is the most disturbing part about him. He has no criminal record, and little to no history of violence. The suspect may be from another world, but he's lived in Smashville for a majority of his life. Alternately, he may be a lifelong Smashville resident, but the point is that he's lived here for a long, long time. His motives are still unclear at this time, but we're confident that once we arrest this individual, we'll understand why he shot and killed President Marth.

"Once again, the SBI urges the public to call the number on the screen if they have any information. Thank you."

The media started shouting questions at the SBI, but they all retreated into headquarters. They went into a windowless conference room, and shared a small exasperated laugh.

"What do we do now?" Rob asked, as if he was reminding the team he was still new to all this.

"We get back to work," Ike answered. "I'm not sure someone will actually call, so we have to keep working, guys."

"I just hope we find this asshole soon," Samus remarked.

"We all do," Lucina piped up. "That's a true enough statement."

* * *

 **There you go! I hope you all enjoyed it. :)**

 **Review Responses:**

 ** _Shana Hager_ : Oh, social commentary about the news these days is fucking AWESOME. It amuses the hell out of me, to be honest. XD Sheik comes off as stealthy, so I thought making her a private investigator made sense. I used Bowser as an informant because I wanted to include some characters that aren't human, and he's one of the few ones that can also speak English in canon. And thank you! I'm honoured that I was selected. :)**

 ** _Pichuplayer_ : Thank you! You're so sweet.**

 ** _pk-smash-attack_ : Oh my GOD, thank you, you lovely person! You're way too nice to me...I probably don't deserve it. I wasn't going to include Lucas, but now I think I will just because you brought it up. :) Yeah, I thought it'd be better to make both Marth & Caeda terrible people, as opposed to just making Caeda a terrible person. Besides, I know people will still feel a little bad for Marth because of his death. Anyways, thank you so much for reviewing, and I hope you continue to read & review this fanfic! :)**

 ** _ALittleBirdSaid_ : Maybe it's because of her appearance (and I know that's awful, but...yeah), but having Bayonetta as Marth's mistress kinda made sense to me. I'm glad you enjoy the title I gave you. XD LOL, reporters in crime dramas- both in TV shows & movies- come off as assholes nine times out of ten. It's almost a trope of sorts, really. As for your suggestion, I do appreciate it! The reason I wrote that sentence the way I did is because it comes off as almost too formal. Lucina's speech pattern is like that in her game, so I thought I should try to carry that over in this fanfic. I hope that makes sense!**

 ** _Serris9K_ : Thank you! Yeah, even I think this version of _Gone Away Like JFK_ is far better than the original. As for your theories, they're quite interesting! But I'm not gonna say whether you're right or not. :D I hope this fanfic continues to not disappoint!**

 **Please review, and don't forget to stay tuned for chapter 14! :D**

 _\- Elizabeth_


	15. Chapter 14

**Hey, guys! I want to apologize for a shorter chapter in comparison to the ones before this. The next one will be much longer than this, but this needed to be in a chapter by itself. I hope you all understand.**

 **I own nothing by Nintendo.**

 **Anyways, please read & enjoy! :D**

* * *

It was late into the evening when Caeda got word that someone had shown up at the President's House to speak to her. This puzzled her because since Marth's death, no one had come to visit her. She'd received flowers from many different political groups and non-profit organizations, at least until her affair with Roy became public. Once that had come to light, the flower bouquets and sympathy cards had suddenly stopped coming.

 _Wait a minute,_ Caeda thought, _maybe it's Roy._

She scoffed at the idea in a low voice.

 _Probably not. He hasn't called or messaged me in the last couple days. Why would he just show up unannounced? It doesn't make any sense._

Caeda's mind was still filled with clouded thoughts and unanswered questions when she finally reached the main room of the President's House. She saw Captain Falcon first.

"Who is it?" she asked.

Captain Falcon moved to reveal a familiar- yet unexpected- face.

"Roy?"

"Yeah, it's me."

"I'll leave you two alone," Captain Falcon interjected in a gruff voice.

Caeda felt his judgment, but chose not to care. She waited until he left before she turned her attention back to Roy.

 _This is it! I've been waiting for this_ , she thought. _Roy wants us to be together once and for all!_

"How have you been?"

Roy chuckled briefly. "I've been better."

"I haven't heard from you in a while," Caeda remarked. "I figured you were trying to ignore me as much as possible."

"You're right about that. I can't go anywhere in Smashville without people staring in disgust. The media had to go and put my picture on TV as much as possible. I had to quit my job because my co-workers kept giving me a hard time. I've been miserable. I can't say I'm surprised, though. I guess a part of me didn't expect that it'd be this bad."

"I'm so sorry, Roy… This is all my fault. I really am sorry."

"Are you?"

Caeda's posture stiffened. "Of course I am. I care about you a lot, you know. All those 'I love yous', the sex, the kisses we shared…it was never lust. I truly love you."

"Wow…I think I believe you."

"We promised to be completely honest with other when we started sleeping together…remember?"

Roy nodded with a dejected grin. He remembered how silly the promise felt at the time. But now, it was a punch in the stomach that he couldn't shake despite his best efforts. He swallowed hard and cleared his throat.

"I didn't come here just to chat," he revealed.

Caeda's face lit up in an instant. "I'm glad to hear that, Roy. I want to be with you."

"Really?"

"Of course! I'll be out of the President's House by the end of the month- just a couple weeks- so we can leave once that's done."

"And where would we go?"

"We'd get the hell out of Smashville," Caeda replied. "I don't care where we end up, so long as it's not in this world. We can't stay here together- you know that just as much as I do. We'll leave Smashville and be together for the rest of our days."

Roy nodded while deep in thought.

"It sounds great, doesn't it?" Caeda added. "What do you think of it?"

Roy didn't respond. He was still lost in his mind. Caeda noticed this, so she brought him back to reality by kissing his lips. Roy didn't reciprocate the gesture, choosing to remain still.

"Is something wrong?" Caeda asked. "If that sounds like too much too soon, I understand. We can make this work."

"No."

 _What did he just say?_

"I can't do this, Caeda."

 _Oh Gods, no._

Similar thoughts slowly flooded Caeda's head. She covered her mouth with her hands as tears began filling her eyes.

"This isn't funny, Roy."

"I'm not joking."

Caeda narrowed her tear-filled eyes. "Yes, you are. Take it back, and I'll forget you ever said it."

Roy took a deep breath, and then shook his head. "No, Caeda."

"But… _why_?"

"Why? What the hell do you mean? I've lost everything because of you. I had to quit my job, my reputation in this town is destroyed, and I'm getting death threats every Goddamn day!"

"Must I remind you that you agreed to the affair in the first place?"

"You think I don't remember?"

Caeda scoffed. "You're angry, Roy. I understand."

"Don't you dare manipulate me into being with you. I'm done, Caeda. I can't do this anymore! I just CAN'T!"

Roy punched a nearby wall, leaving a sizeable dent in the white plaster. If he were to do it again, there would certainly be a true hole in the wall. So Roy resorted to gripping a table that stood against that spot.

"Please don't do this, Roy."

But Roy didn't respond; he just lowered his eyes to the ground. He didn't speak whatsoever, choosing instead to focus on the red carpet.

"Roy?"

He finally looked up with tears in his eyes. Caeda gasped as some of her own tears escaped her eyes.

"I need a fresh start," Roy explained. "I'm leaving for a new world. I'm not telling you which one because I don't want you to find me. I need to be alone, Caeda. I'm sorry to hurt you like this, but…I just can't live this way anymore. We just can't be together anymore. I'm sorry."

Caeda listened intently as more and more tears flowed down her cheeks. Roy was right; she just didn't want to admit it. Despite what he had done, he was a good man that deserved a peaceful life away from scrutiny and death threats. He deserved a fresh start in a new world- wherever that may be. Above all else, he deserved a life with a good woman who wouldn't use him to cheat on her husband.

She collected herself while Roy tried to keep a calm composure. Even though he was the one ending the affair, his heart still ached with affection for this woman. He didn't love her because of her power, or because of who her husband had been. No, he had loved her for her kindness, sense of humour, and overall wonderful personality. He'd kissed her because he wanted to feel her lips on his in a loving gesture. He'd told her that he loved her because he felt that feeling deep within his heart. He'd made love to her because he wanted to show her the depth of his affections. His intentions in the affair had never been to be an asshole breaking up a marriage; he just wanted to be with the woman he loved.

But that dream was officially dead, and so was their relationship.

"You can leave," Caeda wept. "I won't try to stop you."

Roy nodded. He kissed her forehead, whispered a goodbye, and then left the President's House for the last time.

This left Caeda alone as she walked back to her bedroom. She lied in bed and tried to comprehend what the hell just happened. Her sobbing turned into soft weeping, which then turned into a muffled cry.

"I deserved this," she mumbled.

She cried harder into her now mascara-stained pillow. She would be out of the President's House in just a few weeks' time, with no one to turn to. It was essentially her situation now, save for her home. She had no choice back to go to her home world of Altea, away from similar scrutiny that Roy was also dealing with. If she wanted to know a normal life ever again, she would have to do the one thing she swore she'd never do upon leaving for Smashville.

Pikachu suddenly hopped onto the bed, concerned for its owner's well-being. Caeda looked up and petted the gentle creature.

"I'll be fine," she said. "I just had to learn that my fairy tale life was only a façade. They don't exist in real life like I thought when I was a little girl."

Sure, it was an extremely clichéd thing to think about. But for Caeda, it was truer than she wanted to admit to herself. That cliché was now her life, and she had to simply accept it.

* * *

 **There you go! I hope you all enjoyed it. (:**

 **Review Responses:**

 **pichuplayer: Thank you! The interrogation between Bayonetta & Snake has been the most fun scene I've written thus far, not gonna lie. XD I hope you continue to like this fanfic!**

 **Shana Hager: And how does it hold up now? LOL, I'm not annoyed, just curious.**

 **ALittleBirdSaid: Hmm, you make a pretty valid point. And no problem, I appreciate any suggestions! Don't feel too bad...you'll find out soon enough...maybe. LOL, you will, I promise. Anyways, I'm glad you enjoyed the last chapter!**

 **pk-smash-attack: Thank you! Yeah, thank God Marth was President, or else he couldn't throw his money around like that. XD As for your suggestion, I love it! I think instead of a YouTube video, I might make a playlist on Soundcloud. There's a few songs on my playlist that YouTube might give me a headache with, while Soundcloud will not. But I don't think I'll do it until AFTER I finish this fanfic. Thank you for the suggestion, girl! As for deserving all the nice...well, okay. If you say so. ;D**

 **Batnan5: Thank you! That was sweet. :)**

 **Serris9K: Excellent eye there! But I won't say more on the subject. I hope you continue reading this!**

 **Please review, and don't forget to stay tuned for chapter 15! :D**

 _\- Elizabeth_


	16. Chapter 15

**Hello, you lovely people! So, we are slowly getting down to the wire of this fanfic! It's so exciting to finally be done this fanfic in just a few shorts weeks. With that said, it's honestly even more exciting because from the reviews I read in regards to last week's chapters, it seems like you're all still loving this fanfic after all this time! That just makes the late nights writing chapters at the last minute (sometimes, but not all the time, I promise), reading & rereading chapters for mistakes (only to have someone point one I missed anyways), and the writer's block SO worth it in th end. I'm going to stop gushing about my love for you guys while I still can, and save the rest for later on. I'll probably make you cry from the sappiness of the author's note in the last chapter. Don't say I didn't warn you! XD**

 **I own nothing by Nintendo.**

 **Anyways, please read & enjoy! :D**

* * *

The SBI didn't sit around and wait for people to call in with information. They sprang into action, knowing that it was more likely that they'd find a credible suspect than some citizen calling in more for the reward money than to actually help out. It may have seemed like the SBI didn't trust the citizens of their own world, but that wasn't true. They simply couldn't waste time hoping that the perfect phone call would magically occur to fix their problems.

"We need to keep working," Ike insisted.

So he instructed Snake and Samus to perform surveillance on the area of town where the President was shot. Ike's suspicion was that the suspect would possibly visit the crime scene as a way to relive what he had done. It was a long shot that someone as elusive as their suspect would do something so out in the open, but it wasn't a terrible idea.

"Anything's possible with this guy," Ike said. "I'm hoping he screwed up somewhere, somehow."

"Maybe he's committed the perfect crime," Samus mused.

But Snake didn't buy that. "There's no such thing as the perfect crime."

"A lot of people have killed before, and have gotten away with it for forever," Ike pointed out.

"Okay, you win there," Snake replied with a small sneer. "But I don't believe that _this_ guy committed the perfect crime."

"And what makes you so certain?" Samus questioned.

"Because someone who kills the President of Smashville has too big an ego to keep this big a secret to themselves forever."

Snake left before Samus or Ike could respond. This left them in a bewildered, yet amused mood.

"Don't worry, I'll keep him in check," Samus said.

Ike nodded. "Good."

* * *

Meanwhile, Ike had Shulk fine tune the criminal profile, and begin to work on a geographical profile. It wasn't going to take long or be hard work, but it kept the blonde-haired agent busy. He also enjoyed doing such things, so he didn't mind it one bit. He even allowed Lucina to join him, despite her having no experience in profiling criminals or the geographical habits of criminals.

"May I ask why you wanted me here?"

"I need company while I do this," Shulk explained. "It's pretty boring staring at a giant map all by myself."

Lucina nodded. "I suppose that makes sense. But I'm afraid having me here will be pointless."

"That's not true."

"But I know nothing about this!"

"You don't actually think I asked you to join me so you could help, did you?"

That comment had Lucina seeing red. She was about to tell him off when a hand touched her cheek. Immediately, the anger that had been so quick to flare up in her chest died as suddenly as it had appeared. But she grew unsure of Shulk's true motives. She kept her guard up, which was stupid- and she knew that. She trusted him, so keeping her guard wasn't necessary at all.

"Lucina, relax."

"I don't want anyone to see this."

"We're allowed to be together, you know. Besides, we've been together for quite a while now."

"But we don't need to show off our relationship to everyone. Besides, we've got a case to solve."

Shulk moved his hand away. "A fair point indeed. Look, I'll take you out once this guy's arrested. Deal?"

Lucina mulled the idea for a moment. "On one condition."

"What is it?"

"You let Rob and Robin come."

"Oh…uh, okay," Shulk said, slightly disappointed.

"Please don't misunderstand me," Lucina replied. "I want to do something with them."

Shulk furrowed his eyebrows. "I have no idea what you mean."

"Let me explain…"

* * *

In a small computer lab far away from the rest of the SBI, Rob and Robin were debating the criminal profile that had been released just a few hours ago.

"It's not much to go on," Rob said.

"That's true, but it's better than nothing," Robin retorted. "It'll give the public an idea on the person that committed the crime."

Rob grinned. "Okay, you make a pretty good point. But that doesn't change the fact that it's not much. I bet we couldn't narrow the suspect down to 1000 people in Smashville."

"Oh, really?"

"Do you think I'm bluffing?"

Robin smirked. "You're on. Search for human men between the ages of 40 to 55 who have lived in Smashville for…let's say 20 years minimum."

"What else?"

"Someone with an entry level job that requires little education- data entry clerk, construction, stuff like that. Oh, and someone with no criminal record."

It took several minutes for the computer to pull up a long list of names. But Rob focused on the number that was above all the names listed.

"I got…675."

Robin's eyes went wide in an instant. She was about to call him a liar, but she checked for herself instead. Sure enough, the three-digit number was there for both of them to see.

"Okay, you win," she said, finally relenting.

"Yes!" Rob cheered. But his cheers soon turned into a thoughtful look.

"Something on your mind?"

"Well…I might be wrong, so I won't bother."

"No, tell me. Maybe it could help!"

"I was just thinking…what if the guy registered the murder weapon?"

Robin baulked. "That's ridiculous."

"I know, but hear me out," Rob insisted. "Smashville has the strictest gun laws in all the worlds, right?"

"Yeah, so?"

"The biggest law is that no matter what gun you buy, you have to become a registered gun owner after passing mental health tests, safety checks…and a basic background check."

"Just get to the point," Robin snapped.

"If this guy didn't want to stand out- 'cause remember, the others profiled him as someone who easily blends in with society- wouldn't he register his weapon to keep up the image of a law abiding nobody? It's not unlawful to have a gun, unless it's not registered. No one would question a regular guy buying a gun and ammunition."

The idea sounded about as far-fetched as they come, but it wasn't flat out impossible. The strict gun laws were no secret in Smashville; in fact, the local police monitored who bought guns more than most other worlds would even think of doing. With that in mind, Robin decided to see if that would help.

"Alright, amuse me. Cross check this list with those who are register to carry .38 revolvers."

Rob's search turned up a narrower result than the previous.

"I have a hundred guys."

Robin called Ike in a flash.

"This is Ike."

"I need you to put the rest of the SBI on the phone, too."

Ike connected the call to Samus and Snake, and then brought Lucina and Shulk in the same room as him.

"Is everyone there?" Robin asked.

"I'm here with Shulk and Lucina," Ike replied.

"I can hear you," Samus piped up.

"So can I," Snake added. "What is it?"

"So, Rob decided to search for people that fit the profile of our killer, and he narrowed it to 675 men," Robin began.

"That's not good news," Ike said.

"Do _not_ interrupt me," Robin sneered. "So, Rob decided to see how many of them are registered gun owners to .38 revolvers. I thought he was crazy, but…he managed to narrow the list to a hundred. I know it's a long shot, but…maybe we can find our guy?"

"Let's give it a try," Snake said. "It can't hurt anything."

"But we could just be wasting our time," Ike argued.

"Come on, Ike. Can't we please give it a chance?" Shulk asked.

Ike sighed, realizing that the rest of the SBI wasn't going to agree with him. "Do it."

"What do you want me to look for?" Rob asked.

"Start with single men. This guy's definitely not married."

"I'm down to sixty."

"Eliminate those who are dead," Samus chimed in.

"Forty."

"Come on, we've got to think of something else!" Ike said through gritted teeth.

"Someone who works in a place close to where the shooting happened?" Lucina offered.

"That makes sense," Snake said. "Does that help, Rob?"

Rob paused to search. "I'm down to 10."

"Do any of them have radical beliefs?"

"I'm at 7 now."

"Someone who both lives _and_ works near the crime scene!" Shulk exclaimed.

The search result from that had both the Robins wide eyed and open mouthed.

"Well?" Ike asked.

"I think we've got something," Robin said.

* * *

 _Shit, shit, shit, shit, SHIT!_

He seems so calm on the outside. He looks like a normal man in Smashville. Sure, he's bigger and a little scarier-looking than the average person, but that's because he's from a different world. Besides, he's still a normal guy living in a normal place with a normal job. It's so…normal.

 _EXCEPT IT'S ALL BULLSHIT._

He knows this. He may not be the smartest individual in Smashville (that little title belonged to Jeff from Onett), but come _on_. He knows enough to understand what he did. He knew the consequences of his actions. A part of him- a small part, but a part of him nonetheless- also knew that he would get caught.

Suddenly, a sense of calm hits him square in the face. He manages to relax in his seat for the first time that day.

 _Isn't that what you wanted, though? You wanted to become famous for killing the fucking President of Smashville. What was the point of hiding from the world in your home all this time if that was your motive?_

He's not so sure himself. Maybe he's more cowardly than he thought. Or maybe he feared the consequences of getting caught. Or maybe he wanted some freedom until he got caught.

 _Who knows. But it's got to come to an end soon. You can't hide in your little home for the rest of your life._

A surprising thought interrupts everything.

 _Maybe you could kill yourself to avoid jail time._

It's tempting, and he knows it. But death won't give him a chance to relish in the glory of being arrested, tried, and convicted for killing President Marth. Sure, life in jail would be hell on Earth every day until he died somehow. He might not even make it to trial if someone shoots him before he makes it to a jail cell. But Goddamn it, he needs to tell the world why he did what he did! It's necessary for him to do it.

As for the SBI…he won't fight them. He doesn't need to because now he _wants_ to get caught. If- no, _when_ they arrest him, he'll cooperate like a good citizen of Smashville should.

 _And I'll tell them why I killed Marth. I, Ganondorf of Hyrule, will tell the truth once for all._

Now he waits for the inevitable to happen.

* * *

 **There you go! I hope you all enjoyed it...and that you don't lose your shit over the end of this chapter. XD**

 **Review Responses:**

 ** _Shana Hager_ : It is, isn't it? But honestly, it was a long time coming...for Caeda, at least. I'm not sorry in the slightest. :D**

 ** _Batnan5_ : Oh my GOD...I've just been meme'd. Fucking kill me now, please. LMAO all joking aside, thank you so much! That's sweet...really.**

 ** _pichuplayer_ : "Dramatic" is a kind way of putting it. I'm sorry you had a terrible day when you posted your review. I hope you're feeling better now, and that you enjoyed this chapter, too!**

 ** _ALittleBirdSaid_ : Caeda SO got wrecked by Roy! LOL, I like how you put it. But yes, she needed a fucking wake-up call. Fairy tales don't exist, after all. I created subplots away from the investigation just for that reason. Also, I enjoy torturing fictional characters. XD As for the grammar thing, it's "lied" for past tense, and "lay" for present tense. Don't feel bad- it can get pretty confusing, I know! I'm happy you enjoyed the chapter!**

 ** _pk-smash-attack_ : HELL YEAH! LMFAO I use all caps there just 'cause you did the same to me. XD But anyways, yes, she ruined both her life & Roy's life in the name of love & sex. Marriage is weird, isn't it? I don't even want to find an answer for the question you posed. I'm glad that you liked the last chapter!**

 **Please review, and don't forget to stay tuned for chapter 16! :D**

 _\- Elizabeth_

 **(P.S. No, I won't post next week's chapter early, so don't bother asking.)**


	17. Chapter 16

**Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing by Nintendo.**

 **Please read & enjoy! :D**

* * *

Sirens pierced the dead of night throughout Smashville as the SBI raced to Ganondorf's last known address. The red and blue lights on their cars danced in the streets as quickly as two SUVs sped through residential and commercial streets alike. Ike, Snake, and Lucina rode in one, while Samus and Shulk trailed behind in another. The Robins had stayed behind to relay information to the team from their office.

"Ganondorf is 45 years old, and is originally from Hyrule," Robin began. "He moved to Smashville 15 years ago, and has worked the same job- at a weapons manufacturer- ever since. He has no debt, lives in an apartment in a safe part of town, and isn't married."

"Also," Rob added, "he bought the murder weapon a month ago, and bullets a week after that. So he's clearly been planning this for a while."

"He meant to kill the President," Ike said. "What were his beliefs?"

"He seems to be a conservative in terms of political beliefs," Robin replied. "President Marth was more of a socialist, so that could be the motive. The President has done a few things conservatives despise; tighten up gun laws, legalize assisted suicide, and legalized gay marriage. Surely, Ganondorf must've disagreed with all that."

"He most likely did," Lucina mused.

"Did he make troubling posts on the Internet- better yet, a manifesto?" Samus asked.

"If he did, he never shared it online," Rob answered. "He doesn't seem to have any social media accounts, save for an email address. Robin and I will start digging through those now."

"Do that," Ike instructed. "We're almost at Ganondorf's apartment. We'll call you once we have him in custody."

Once the Robins were disconnected from the SBI, Robin let out a shaky sigh. She fidgeted with one of her pigtails in an attempt to distract herself.

"What's wrong?" Rob asked.

Robin gave him a glassy glance. "I'm worried for their safety. Anything can happen, Rob. There could be a shooting, and someone could get hurt…or killed! The SBI aren't really my co-workers, but rather, my friends. I don't have a family, so they're kinda my family. They're all I have, really."

Rob could see that Robin's fears and emotions were genuine. He felt awful that she was so worked up over the safety of her co-workers. Even though he didn't know them as well as her, he also hoped that they all returned to headquarters safely- and with the suspect in custody, of course. But the rest of the team's safety was of high importance to him.

He stopped Robin's hand from fiddling with her hair by taking it in his. He studied her fingers, and then her palms. He tried to memorize the lines that adorned the fair skin- a print that made her unique to every world imaginable.

"What are you doing?"

The question drew Rob out of his thoughts. He set Robin's hand down with a sheepish expression.

"Nothing," he replied.

"It didn't look like nothing."

Rob brushed some hair away from Robin's face. "Everything's going to be alright."

"How do you know?"

"They're trained for the worst case scenario. They're going in expecting the worst. That way, if the worst _does_ happen, they know exactly what to do. Besides, I don't think the worst will happen."

Robin scoffed. "Gods, how can you say that?!"

"Because I trust them."

"But you barely know them! You barely know me."

"So? Everything I've seen so far has been good, if you know what I mean. Sure, it's been depressing and disheartening, but I've quickly grown to trust you all. Though if I were to be honest, I must say that I trust you the most."

That last statement made Robin baulk. "And why is that, exactly?"

"Because you're a tech analyst like me, and a great one at that. Oh…and you're someone I enjoy talking to," Rob admitted.

"Are you hitting on me?"

"If you look at it that way, then perhaps. But I just see it as comforting a worried co-worker. And don't say you weren't worried- you even said so yourself."

Robin sighed in defeat. "I'm not going to argue over it anymore. Let's just move on, okay?"

"Okay, if you insist."

"I _do_."

Rob couldn't help but chuckle. "They'll be okay, Robin. I know it."

Even though worry still clouded her head, Robin couldn't help but silently agree. The SBI always came out on top in the end. This would be no different, and she knew it.

* * *

"We're here."

Ike, Snake, and Lucina carefully exited the vehicle just as Shulk and Samus pulled up. They caught up with their colleagues near the end of the street. Ganondorf's apartment stood less than 10 feet from where they were hiding.

Each agent strapped on a Kevlar bulletproof vest before pulling out their respective guns.

"Listen," Ike whispered, "we all need to stick together on this one. We won't split up until after we get inside. I'll go with Snake and Lucina. Shulk, you and Samus stick together. I'll lead everyone before that. This guy is definitely going to be armed and dangerous, so please use caution. Got it?"

The rest of the team nodded.

"Let's arrest this guy."

The SBI crept out of their hiding place, and crossed the street. They reached the apartment complex before slowly sneaking up the steps. They only had to reach the third floor to find Ganondorf's address.

"To the left," Ike muttered.

Everyone followed him down the narrow hallway to the correct hallway. The only sounds one could make in the dead of night were footsteps and breathing. Otherwise, it was a calm, uneventful night. But that was about to change.

Ike gave the signal, allowing Snake to kick the door down. It broke off its hinges and rested inside the apartment. Ike went inside first, followed by the rest of the SBI. Snake was the last to enter, allowing him to look around more.

"SBI!" Ike shouted.

Snake and Lucina followed him into another room, leaving Samus and Shulk to search the living room. It was Shulk who made an important- albeit disturbing- find.

One wall wasn't just a blank white wall that would be standard in any apartment. Instead, a large bulletin board hung right in the middle. Newspaper headlines and whole articles of President Marth's assassination adorned it, as well as printed out screenshots from online news sites. SNN, Smash & Fox News, SBC News, and even the fake news show _Yesterday's News Today_ were all on the board. The last site had the least amount of articles- which made sense- but they seemed to be Ganondorf's favourite. A star of yellow highlighter was on the top left corner of each one, as if to show that that was Ganondorf's favourite source for news.

 _Why a fake news show, though? That makes no sense_ , Shulk thought.

"Shulk."

He looked away to see Samus holding a gun with a cloth.

"Is that...?"

"It's a .38, so it could be."

"Bag it."

Samus set the gun down so she could retrieve a brown paper bag from her pocket. She then appropriately put the gun inside and set it on the ground.

"Let's find the others," she said. "I'll grab this later."

She and Shulk carefully hustled to Ike, Snake, and Lucina. Ike was searching a bathroom, Lucina was inside a tiny closet, and Snake was simply keeping watch.

"I think I found the murder weapon," Samus whispered. "It's in an evidence bag in the living room."

Ike nodded. "Good. We'll get it tested once we get back."

"There's only one room left in this place- the bedroom," Snake said. "Be ready, everyone."

The SBI readied their guns before tip toeing to the bedroom door. Ike shoved the door open, allowing him and the team to swarm in.

Ganondorf was already lying on the bed stomach first, with his face to the right. He looked up to see the SBI surround him.

"I don't have a gun on me, so you can put that away," he muttered.

Ike did so first, though only to slap handcuffs on Ganondorf. Much to the former's surprise, his suspect didn't fuss at all, even when Snake snarled at him.

"You're under arrest, you son of a bitch."

"That's fine," Ganondorf replied. "I was waiting for it, you know. Took you guys long enough to figure out it was me."

"Shut up!" Samus exclaimed. "Since you seem so eager to be arrested, you'll be just as eager to tell us why you killed the President, right?"

"Get me down to your headquarters, and I'll tell you everything," Ganondorf said.

"We'll see about that," Ike remarked.

* * *

 **There you go! I hope you all enjoyed that...despite the tiny cliffhanger I left you all on. XD**

 **Review Responses:**

 ** _Shana Hager_ : SURPRISE! He is indeed the bastard behind President Marth's assassination. As for the motive...you'll find out eventually! :)**

 ** _pichuplayer_ : I love knowing that I surprised people! That makes me a happy lady. Also, I'm glad to hear that you're doing better. :D Glad you enjoyed the last chapter!**

 ** _ALittleBirdSaid_ : LOL yeah, grammar's a huge pain in the ass...such is life 9 times out of 10. Yes, Ganondorf isn't as dumb as he looks. I always thought that even before I wrote this fanfic. Thank you for the compliment! Suspense is one of my favourite things to write, for obvious reasons. And yes, the romance between Shulk & Lucina was fun to write. A little romance was needed to make this fanfic a little less depressing. That's my opinion, anyways.**

 **Please review, and don't forget to stay tuned for chapter 17! :D**

 _\- Elizabeth_


	18. Chapter 17

**Hello, guys.**

 **Before you read the newest chapter, I want to preface it with a few words. This chapter was planned out months ago, long before the events of this past weekend (AKA the weekend of June 11th & 12th, 2016, for future readers). There aren't any serious triggers in this chapter, but it may seem a little insensitive if I hadn't said something about it (in my opinion). Because of this chapter's contents combined with what's happened, this was the most difficult piece of work that I've ever had to write. I had to channel some negative emotions I've been feeling recently as a form of therapy. I got pretty emotional at certain parts (I think you'll know which ones once you begin reading), but I'm not ashamed to admit it. I hope you understand why I wrote this chapter the way I did.**

 **If you're struggling with grief- whether it be personal or not- please message me. I'm no grief counsellor, but I have lived my life, and I know a thing or two. I may not be the best help, but I'll try my hardest to help out.**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing by Nintendo.**

 **Please read & enjoy.**

* * *

"Why did you do it?"

Ganondorf didn't tear his eyes away from the desk in front of him. His mouth gaped open, but he closed it just as quickly. He wasn't sure why he had suddenly become so quiet. He'd wanted to get arrested so badly, and it had finally happened. This was his one and only chance to tell the SBI why he had assassinated President Marth of Smashville. He needed to get it off his chest _now_.

But he couldn't find the words. Any sentence he tried to create in his head either sounded weird, or horribly inaccurate. He tried to compile something that sounded good in his head.

"I thought you said you'd tell us why you killed the President," Ike said. "If you're not going to, tell me so we can end the interview."

"I will," Ganondorf insisted.

Ike scoffed. "I'm going to give you your second and final warning: if you're not going to tell me why you killed the President, I'm going to end the interview."

Ganondorf took a sip of his coffee. He gathered his thoughts before finally speaking.

"I killed President Marth to gain his fame."

The answer was one Ike had expected. He felt a little silly that he had asked Ganondorf the question despite having already known the answer. He figured that a part of him wanted confirmation from the killer himself. Ike wanted to know that he had been right all along. It seemed ridiculous, and even a little childish as he thought of it. But he brushed those feelings aside to focus back on the situation.

"What happened?"

"Don't you already know?"

"Just tell me what happened," Ike snapped.

Ganondorf sighed. "Alright…where should I start?"

"From the beginning of the day the shooting happened."

"Fine," Ganondorf said. "So, I woke up at about five AM that day. I turned on the TV, and heard that President Marth had a speech today on climate change. I thought, Maybe I can ambush him during his speech and kill them then! So I grabbed my gun and ammo, got in my car, and drove off.

"I saw the warning light go off in my car, so I pulled into the first gas station I could find. After I filled up my car and paid for it, I began to drive again. But something compelled me to pull over at that moment. I turned on the car radio, and heard that the President was driving to his speech…and he was on the same street as me. So I decided to stay put and shoot him when he drove down my way."

"Did he show up?" Ike asked.

"It took a few minutes, but he did. By then, I had positioned myself far enough away that no one could see me, but close enough that I knew I'd hit President Marth. Once his car rolled by, I shot him. I think I fired four times. As soon as I finished, I left. I didn't speed away or make a big scene- I just drove home like I always do. That's all you really need to know, Agent."

"Did anyone help you?"

"No," Ganondorf replied, "and I mean it. I didn't need any help. I also didn't want to share the fame from killing President Marth."

Ike soaked all the new information in. He then stood Ganondorf up and slapped handcuffs on him once again.

"You're being charge with capital murder for the assassination of President Marth."

"About time," Ganondorf muttered.

Ike took him outside, where two police officers and their squad car waited. He passed Ganondorf off to them before meeting up with the rest of the SBI.

"It's over," Ike said, relieved.

"It is for the most part," Snake clarified.

"How do you mean?" Lucina asked.

"The investigation's over, but he's still gonna be tried," Snake replied. "Either that, or he'll take a plea deal. But even after that, Marth's widow, his mistress, and all his staffers are going to be affected by this. They're all still mourning, as is the rest of Smashville. It gets better slowly, after much time has passed. But for those closest to him, they'll probably never get over it."

"The pain is there less and less, but it's still there," Ike added. "After tomorrow's funeral, they have to go back to their regular lives. They have to try and find some sense of normalcy after this."

"That's very true," Shulk said. "Speaking of the funeral, we're going, right?"

"I don't see why not," Ike replied. "We may have worked tirelessly on the case, but I think we still need to pay our respects. It's the right thing to do."

* * *

Soft piano and loud trumpets filled the sunny morning the very next day. Hundreds of thousands of people dressed in black stood on the grass lawn of the President's House, waiting for the coffin to come out. Many were in tears; clutching tissues or handkerchiefs, trying to keep their composures for the sake of their peers. No one spoke a word among the massive crowd. Everyone was so silent that the only sound heard was a soft breeze that occurred once in a while.

The SBI were far away from the President's House, and away from the general public. They didn't speak among themselves; they instead took in the silence that enveloped them and everyone else. They weren't SBI agents today, but just citizens of Smashville mourning the senseless death of their late President.

The doors to the President's House opened, causing everyone to focus right at that spot. Captain Falcon exited first, followed by the glistening white coffin carried by the rest of the SSIS. They slowly marched down the steps, with First Lady Caeda following behind. With a black veil and large hat hiding both her face and hair, it was hard to realize that it was even her in the first place. She kept her eyes close to the ground to avoid the disapproving eyes of her people.

The SSIS soon reached the hearse, where they loaded the coffin inside. The hearse drove off with a police escort so it could drive at a slow pace. This allowed people to follow the hearse to a local funeral home a few miles away in their cars.

Once there, the closed coffin was on display for all. Two SSIS agents took turns guarding it as people came to pay their respects. Again, many wept as they stared at the coffin that held the deceased President. Some touched it, while others stood by it for a couple minutes before leaving. People spoke more, though only in hushed tones. No one spoke louder than a whisper, as if doing otherwise would disrespect Marth and his life.

Once each agent had paid their respects, they gathered near the entrance of the church.

"They're going to do this for a few hours," Ike muttered. "There won't be a service, though- just a burial afterwards."

"We have some time in between," Snake noted. "I'm kinda surprised, to be honest."

Lucina nodded. "I feel so heartbroken for Caeda. I know her marriage to Marth was awful, but to lose your husband would be so devastating. I know they loved each other a long time ago. I can see it in her eyes."

"Perhaps that's true," Shulk mused as he placed his hand in Lucina's. "The whole situation is just very sad."

"It's horrible," Samus said. "The media outside is actually being respectful for a change. Smash & Fox News are being hypocrites in the process, but I digress."

Robin kept quiet. As her colleagues continued to talk, she managed to slip outside. The church had been so stuffy and claustrophobic that she needed to get away for some fresh air. Luckily, the media circus avoided her as she disappeared under a large tree several feet away. She sat cross legged, choked up from today's events.

"Is everything alright?"

She looked up, ready to tell whoever was near to leave her be. But when she actually saw who had spoken, she pursed her lips for a moment.

"Rob?"

"I saw you leaving, and you looked upset. What's wrong?"

Robin shrugged off his concerns. "It's silly."

"That doesn't matter. Please tell me what's wrong."

"I'm just depressed by all this," Robin confessed. "It's so sad…Marth was so young. He may not have been perfect, but I think most would agree that he didn't deserve to die that way. No one deserves to be shot to death in front of their loved ones. I just keep thinking, 'What the hell is going on?' Oh…forgive me, I don't speak like that normally, but…I can't help but be frank."

A couple tears escaped her brown eyes as she spoke. Rob gently wiped them away with his fingers.

"You're right," he said, "no one deserves to be killed like that. It really is awful. I don't know why he had to be the one to die. It seems Ganondorf was so desperate to become famous that he killed someone to achieve it. It's sad, and even pathetic."

"I just wish this hadn't happened."

"So do I, Robin. This may sound rude, but I don't mean it to be- life hurts. And when it hurts, it can hit you harder than you expect."

Robin scoffed at herself. "Gods, I'm being ridiculous. I'm crying over the death of someone I never even met! I don't understand why I'm so upset."

"It's sad anytime someone dies far before their time," Rob said. "And everyone's different when it comes to grieving. If you need to cry, cry. If you need to be angry, be angry. Whatever you do, don't cope with it alone. That's the worst thing to do."

"Thank you…that makes me feel better. I should feel better by the end of the week. But still, thank you for comforting me, Rob. It means a lot."

"You're welcome, Robin. I hate seeing you upset. All I want is to comfort you."

"Well, you've done a good job. But I don't wanna talk about this anymore. Can we please talk about something else?"

"Sure, why not? I need to tell someone that House Speaker Corrin is gonna be the new President."

Robin's eyes shot open. "WHAT? How'd you find out?!"

"I can't tell you."

"Rob, you didn't…"

"It doesn't matter how I found out, okay?"

Robin thought about scolding her co-worker, but ultimately changed her mind. She shook her head to try and comprehend the news.

"Since Marth didn't have a Vice-President, his party voted among themselves to see who wanted to fill his role," Rob explained. "Corrin got picked by a landslide. I guess being House Speaker in the same party as the President has its perks."

"Sounds like it," Robin said with a laugh. "Wow…when will they announce this?"

"I couldn't find out, but I think it'll be soon. The media doesn't know about it…yet. They'll find out before the weekend. That's my guess, anyways."

"Makes sense. Honestly, it's a little weird that the House Speaker is becoming President. But if the rest of Marth's party want it to be him, I suppose there's no point in kicking up a fuss. He's quite young, though…he's probably younger than Marth!"

"There's no telling how good or bad he'll be," Rob remarked. "We'll find out over time, though. But whatever happens, he'll have a lot of support from his party, and from a lot of people in Smashville."

"You got that right," Robin said. She paused to wipe away the last of her tears. "I'm done crying now. Thank you for comforting me, Rob…and for sharing a secret with me. I'll just pretend I don't know how you found out."

Rob chuckled. "Thanks. Now, let's find the others before they become suspicious."

The two returned to the church to find the rest of the SBI waiting for them. They seemed concerned, especially when they spotted Robin's red face and slightly swollen eyes.

"I was just crying over this, and Rob came to comfort me," she explained before anyone could ask.

Ike nodded. "I'm glad you're better. Thanks for that, Rob."

"No problem. So…what are we doing?"

"We're going to the cemetery that the President's going to be buried," Snake answered. "The viewing's not over for a few hours, but we should probably leave now before everyone else tries to as well."

"Well then, let's go," Robin said. "I know how to get us out of here without the media seeing us."

Ike nodded. "Then please, lead the way."

The SBI followed Robin out of the church so they could say their final goodbyes, and pay their final respects to President Marth.

* * *

A cream-and-red-coloured robot directed mourners to the burial plot. A small crowd was already gathering by the time the SBI reached it. The SSIS already had the coffin resting above the plot while they stood guard. They silently watched as more and more citizens showed up at the cemetery to say one last goodbye.

Once it seemed that no more people would show, the SSIS saluted the fallen President of Smashville. The coffin was then covered with flowers that some mourners had brought with them. There were mainly blue roses, but there were also red roses and white roses placed on the black and gold metal. Once that was complete, the coffin was slowly lowered into the ground. Many wept as it disappeared forever, never again to resurface.

Yet even as people wept, silence hung in the air once again. Just as they had done when they had seen the coffin earlier, no one uttered a single word. The sound of silence was far louder than anyone had expected.

Once the coffin was in the ground, Captain Falcon spoke up.

"Rest in peace, President Marth. Your candle may have gone out, but your legend certainly won't. That's a promise."

* * *

 **I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. The final one will be up next Wednesday.**

 **Review Responses:**

 ** _pk-smash-attack_ : Because he's fucking crazy? Yeah, that's a decent enough reason, right? Anyways, thank you!**

 ** _Shana Hager_ : I hope this chapter answered some questions you had!**

 ** _pichuplayer_ : Sorry! And please- you don't need to redo your list for my sake. I appreciate the sentiment, but I won't insist on it.**

 ** _SeththeGreat_ : Well, a killer's off the streets, for one. And Smashville will have a new President eventually! Hopefully this chapter addressed your concerns about there not being a President. It may seem unorthodox, but I think it kinda works. I apologize if it bothers you, though. And yes, the SBI can relax now that Ganondorf will never see the light of day ever again...I persume.**

 ** _ALittleBirdSaid_ : Don't apologize! I'm just happy you review at all. I wouldn't say he was cheeky- more like conceited, if you will. I hope I answered your question with this chapter. Thank you for your kind words once again!**

 **Please review, and don't forget to stay tuned for the final chapter of _Gone Away Like JFK (Redux)_!**

\- Elizabeth

* * *

 **P.S. I apologize for coming off as depressed in this update. Honestly, Christina Grimmie's death has been on my mind since I found out, and I haven't gotten over it yet. I've never had to deal with the death of a celebrity that I was a huge fan of- especially one so close to my age (about one year apart, actually). I'm upset about the night club shooting, but Christina's murder has hurt more for me. I needed to use this chapter as an excuse to channel my feelings into my writing. I promise to be back to my normal self in time for the next update, but I just can't be myself right now. I hope you guys understand.**

 **I love you all so fucking much...more than you'll ever know. Please don't ever forget that. Please be safe, and I'll see you next week!**


	19. Chapter 18

**Hey, you guys! I want to quickly thank you all for your kind words in regards to last week's update. They were all so touching, and I'm so grateful for you all! In case you're wondering: I'm in much better spirits this week. You have my word. :)**

 **On another note, I apologize for this chapter. I know most everything was wrapped up in the last chapter, but there's one subplot that needed a proper conclusion. I tried to figure out a way to end it earlier on, but it just wasn't working out for me. So...yeah. This is how this ends. I'll save the giant, sappy thank you note at the end of this chapter, after the review responses.**

 **I own nothing by Nintendo.**

 **Please read & enjoy the last chapter! :D**

* * *

Music blared inside Smashville's most popular bar, DK & Diddy's Bananazana. People talked, laughed, and drank with their friends, all without a care in the world. It had been a couple days since the President had been laid to rest, and just one day since it was announced that Corrin would succeed him. It wasn't easy to live in Smashville, though; hearts were still rather heavy after everything that had happened. But life had to go on, whether people wanted it to or not.

So the SBI decided to treat themselves to a nice night out. They headed to a bar to talk about things that had nothing to do with their job. Many of them smiled and joked about each other, like siblings. They hung out at a table far from the bar area…well, for the most part. Snake, Ike, and Samus chose to play darts a few feet away. Lucina, Shulk, and the Robins lingered by their table to people watch, though they spent most of their time watching their co-workers play darts.

"Samus keeps beating them well," Shulk remarked. "Remind me to never play against her."

"Duly noted," Lucina giggled.

At the sound of Ike and Snake groaning again, the rest of the SBI laughed at their defeat. Samus let out a small cheer before laughing a little herself.

"How long do you think they'll keep trying to beat her?" Rob asked.

"Your guess is as good as mine," Robin replied. "But if I was them, I would've quit a long time ago."

Shulk chuckled. "I suppose you're right. I wouldn't quit, though, so I guess I shouldn't say anything."

"You're quite competitive," Lucina said. "Why is that?"

"He just wants to impress you!" Robin exclaimed.

"Why else?" Rob added.

Lucina scowled, while Shulk blushed.

"Guys, please."

"It's true!" Robin insisted.

"Enough," Lucina said. "Besides, what's going on between you two?"

Rob choked on his water, while Robin glanced away.

"Wait, you two barely know each other," Shulk said. "I think you're blowing this out of proportion."

"Thank you," Robin said in between a sigh. "Gods, this is embarrassing."

Lucina smirked, surprising her closet friends, and even herself. She crossed her arms over her chest and gave Shulk a mischievous look.

"Care to dance?"

Shulk almost said no, but he quickly picked up on what his girlfriend had in mind. He fought off a growing smirk as he responded.

"Sure. I'll see you guys later, alright?"

Before the Robins could reply, Shulk whisked Lucina to the bar's dance area hand-in-hand. They quickly disappeared into the sea of partying people. Rob and Robin exchanged exasperated glances.

"This is ridiculous," Robin finally said after the silence between them came and went.

"You're telling me," Rob replied. "We've basically been set up!"

For a moment, no one spoke. The Robins simply took in the atmosphere of the bar. People were joyous, and even a little silly. Everyone was having fun, regardless of what they were actually doing.

"So now what? Do we find Shulk and Lucina? Tell them they've got the wrong idea? Or join the others in a game of darts?" Rob wondered.

Robin shrugged. "I don't know."

Again, the two didn't trade words. Rob then grabbed Robin's hand to inspect it.

"Wh-what are you doing?" she asked.

Rob set her hand down. "Nothing."

"This is awkward for me," Robin admitted.

"Me too," Rob said. "I know we barely know each other, but…I think there's something here. Am I wrong?"

Robin blushed, but didn't respond.

"Please tell me if I'm wrong," Rob added. "I don't want things to be awkward between us. I respect you a lot, Robin. But…"

"But?..."

It was Rob's turn to blush. "I don't know. This feels sudden. I only got out of a relationship a while ago."

"Let's just date, then."

" _What?_ "

Robin nodded. "Yeah, let's just go on a date, you and me. I won't pressure you to do anything you do want to do, only if you promise to do the same for me."

"Are you asking me out?"

"I suppose you can look at it that way. I know this seems so sudden, but take a chance. If it works out, it works out. And if it doesn't, I promise that we'll stay friends. After this case, I've realized that people need to live their lives to the fullest- and that includes me. So come on…take a chance."

Rob seemed to think things over. Before Robin could add on to her point, Rob grabbed her hands.

"Okay," he said. "Robin…will you go out with me tomorrow night?"

"Hmm…sure, why not?"

The two shared a laugh, and the tension and awkwardness seemed to disappear at that exact moment. They stared into each other's eyes, unsure of what exactly to say. Their staring contest ended when Rob broke into a fit of laughter.

"Why are you laughing?" Robin asked.

"Nerves, I suppose," Rob confessed with yet another chuckle. "I'm sorry."

"It's alright. I'm just glad that you're still taking this seriously."

"Of course I am. I've never been-"

"More serious in your life. Yeah, I know. You're not original."

"Who said I was trying to be original? I was going for cheesy all along."

"And why is that?"

"Because it's funny."

Robin shook her head, amused. "What have I gotten myself into?"

"You'll find out, won't you?"

"I guess so, Rob. Do you wanna dance?"

"I'd love to.

The two walked hand in hand to the dancefloor, excited for whatever the future held for them. Tomorrow wasn't guaranteed, so they wanted to enjoy the moment while they could. Nothing stood in their way of having a good time tonight. At the end of the day, that was all that mattered to them both.

* * *

 **There you go! I hope you all enjoyed it. :)**

 **Review Responses:**

 ** _Shana Hager_ : Thank you! Glad you liked it.**

 ** _Serris9K_ : They are...they really are. :/ And thanks! Adding him in was a bit of a last minute decision, but it seemed to work!**

 ** _pichuplayer_ : Thank you- really. I couldn't avoid writing the previous chapter forever, so I had to confront my feelings and just fucking write the chapter. I'm feeling better now, though. I hope this chapter didn't disappoint!**

 ** _ALittleBirdSaid_ : It was a depressing weekend, to say the least. I'm feeling much better, though there's still a part of me that hurts a little. But I think that's to be expected for a while. I'm happy that you loved the previous chapter, though! It wasn't hard to put feeling into it, trust me. It was worth it, though. I think it was.**

* * *

 **Now for the thank you note...**

 **I want to sincerely thank you ALL for the love & support you've given me while writing this fanfic.**

 **Those that favourited this fanfic: _Batnan5, CapitalClassShip, Krocken the Hybrid, MaskedGamer, Naynay101, Serris9K, Taiski, The Reader II, pichuplayer, pk-smash-attack._**

 **Those that followed this fanfic: _ALittleBirdSaid, Batnan5, Bluefoot, CapitalClassShip, MaskedGamer, SeththeGreat, Sp1r1t, The Reader II, TranscendentalNerd, hilli98215, pichuplayer, pk-smash-attack, player089, thejazzienerd._**

 **Those that reviewed at any point: _Shana Hager, PozzyP, MahNati, SeththeGreat, Death, Guest#1, Bluefoot, ALittleBirdSaid, Jack, pichuplayer, hi, Guest#2, Batnan5, pk-smash-attack, Serris9K._**

 **Special thanks to _ALittleBirdSaid_ for helping to edit some chapters.**

 **Also, a VERY special thanks to my friend _MahNati_ for supporting me, even when I wanted to throw my MacBook out the window because of this fucking fanfic. Girl, I honestly don't know what I'd do without you.**

 **Finally, I want to thank everyone that read this fanfic. Your support has meant the world to me, and I'm sad to call this fanfic done. I had so much fun writing it (for the most part), though I'm happy to soon start my newest fanfic. That being said, I'm so happy how happy I am to have received all the love and support you guys have given me because of this fanfic.**

 **I love you all so fucking much- more than you'll ever know. Please please PLEASE don't ever forget that. 3**

 **Please review, and don't forget to check out the rest of my work! :D**

 _\- Elizabeth_


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